


Arcane Reality

by Nightmare_Taichou



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-03-10 20:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 89,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13508958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightmare_Taichou/pseuds/Nightmare_Taichou
Summary: [Log Horizon/SAO AU] Kise Ryouta, model and ace of Kaijou has a side that only his teammates know of -he's a gamer. However, tragedy befell the entire Japanese nation -thousands of gamers are trapped inside a popular VRMMORPG unable to log out. With this new reality comes new dangers; can Kise and the other players make the best out of this seemingly disastrous situation?





	1. Link Start: Catastrophe

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, this story was TokusatsuLuv's idea, I'm just the writer.   
> Aggro: gaining attention of (in most cases) computer controlled enemies such as monsters. It draws them out for an easier fight.  
> Buff: A player/players’ skills are increased in either strength or abilities. This is usually done by a Cleric (or someone from the Healer archetype).  
> Noob: Term used for ‘newbies’ or new players. Sometimes spelt with two zeros instead of o’s.

 

...

“I’m home!” Kise shouted as he took off his shoes at the genkan.

“Welcome back!” came two shouts from the kitchen. Kise followed and entered the kitchen where he saw both his parents cooking dinner. This was a routine anyway. His father ―Ryouhei was a tall blond man with green eyes, in fact, Kise was a younger version of him only with brown eyes. His mother on the other hand, was short and had beautiful black hair and brown eyes. Her name was Ritsuko.

“How was school today?” Ryouhei asked as he chopped the chicken.

“It was the usual Papacchi,” Kise said with a drawl. “Exhausting.”

“Good luck, Ryou!” Ritsuko perked, pinching his cheeks while she was at it.

“Mom!” he whined as he wiggled out of her grip.

“Aww,” she cooed. “You’re so cute when you whine.”

...

After Kise finished eating dinner and washed up, he bolted up the stairs to his room where he dived into his bed on his back. Taking up the NerveGear that nestled to the left of the headboard, Kise booted up the game, ready to head back into the virtual world. This was one side of him that only Kaijou and his parents knew about ―he's a serious gamer. If he hadn't discovered basketball and hadn't taken up modelling, then gaming would have been his number one past-time. He was especially hooked on these types of games, due to the life-like experience one felt whilst playing.

Unlike gaming consoles of the past and online games that one played while facing a computer, with this, it felt as though they were in the game, hence the name _Virtual Reality._ Kise was bursting with joy, glad to be born in this generation.

"Link Start!"

After the white screen disappeared, a familiar sight greeted Kise's eyes. The town before him was bustling with people ―players and NPCs, each in their own class and character get-up. There were Archers and Knights mingling with each other, Mages and Warriors walking around and purchasing equipment among many others.

Kise walked up the steep, meandering streets, passing by taverns and other establishments. This particular street was the noisiest, as players flocked in the aforementioned places. This was a usual route for Kise whenever he needed to upgrade his weapons or make purchases. Yet another feature of the game, upgrades are done at the various weaponsmiths instead of automatically when having gathered the necessary materials. That somewhat gave the game a more realistic feel, although sometimes it can be quite a hassle, especially, if one has any of the more common weapon types like swords or if they used an unpopular weapon.

Finally, Kise reached his destination and pushed open the door. An Elven male with bright red hair and red eyes greeted him with a playful frown.

"I'm back Rune!" he beamed as he sauntered further inwards.

"Raiden...always the dashing bastard." he joked. Yes, Kise's in-game name was "Raiden".

"Of course," he smirked, pushing back his white hair fringe, his purple eyes were sparkling with amusement. In addition to the hair and eyes, Kise's avatar was very much different from his real life body. While he was still tall, he had a cute little face as he was an Elf. His pointy ears were perked up, as if showing that he was in a good mood.

He wore a purple shirt underneath a long white coat with purple trimmings that he leaves open. The sleeves of the coat are cuffed up to his elbow. Around his waist were two thick belts that crossed each other a little below his abdomen. His white pants were tucked into white High Forest boots that had purple twine lacing at the front.

"So, what are you here for?" Rune ―or rather Runic Night asked. "It can't be for more Holy Grenades, right?" He raised his eyebrows at him.

"No, no," Kise said as he waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just wondering if you haven't heard about any raids going on. People are lively these days, but no one's whispering about going in a dungeon or setting any records or raiding."

"There were two who seemed like noobs." Runic Night said while tapping his chin in thought. "They were asking for a Healer to join their party for some levelling or something."

"Oh." Kise nodded. He leaned on the table and let out a sigh. He wasn't bored at the moment, but he really wanted to do something before bedtime. He was a solo player, which meant he wasn't in any guilds or any parties. There were two reasons for this, basketball and modelling. They were both time consuming in their own right, and if he were to join a guild or whatever, it just wouldn't work out.

"Don't worry, I told them to come back. I had a feeling that you'd find your ass here anyway."

"Thank you Rune!" he shouted in joy.

"Anytime." Kise and Runic Night were good friends in-game, being that the now white-haired boy was a frequent customer. While neither knew each other's real name and face, they were able to converse well about not only things related to the game and their characters but normal real-life topics. Well, that and, Kise's really chatty.

Soon, the doors open and two players entered with gleams in their eyes upon seeing Kise. The Archer on the left was a Human and was clothed in a long green tunic with black accents and trim on the sleeves. His black pants were tucked into black demi-boots that had adjustable belts on the side. He had a green leather quiver on his back, packed with arrows. He had light blue hair done in a braid to the side and green eyes.

"Hello." he said as he waved to them, the bracer on his arm had beautiful ornate designs.

"Hi." Kise replied. His eyes then looked across to the Archer's other companion. He seemed to be a Thief or Rogue or someone from that archetype. He wore a dark blue hooded cloak that closes with intricate woven hempen toggles and a button. Looking at his feet, Kise saw that he wore black boots.

Archer then walked up to the counter where Runic Night was. He asked in a whisper, "Is that the Cleric you told us about?"

"Yeah, he's the one."

With a swift turn to Kise, Archer said, "Would you like to join our party?!" he beamed, the Thief (or whatever he was) beside him was clasping his hands together and nodding.

"Sure, I don't mind. But I need to ask," Kise said while looking at the other player. "What's your class, sub-class and level?"

"Thief and Chef, level twenty."

 _Odd combination,_ Kise thought before looking across to the Archer, "And you?"

"Same level, Mage is my subclass. What's your level?" Archer never asked Kise if he had a sub-class because Clerics usually don't. Or if they do, it isn't anything of the fighter type.

"Oh. I'm at level twenty-eight."

Archer and Thief exchanged glances before sighing a relief. Kise raised his eyebrows at this, but then dismissed it as just them glad that they got a Cleric with a higher level than they were. After conversing for a while about where they wanted to go and learning each other's general skills and equipment, Archer sent the invitation to Kise. Seeing their in-game names, Kise roared with laughter and nearly fell off the stool.

Archer's name was "God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze".

Thief's name was "Straight Cloak Gold Digger".

The two boys were embarrassed at Kise laughing at them, but they couldn't counter being that Kise's name was pretty normal. After the laughter died down, Kise then said,

"You know I can't call you that, right?" he chuckled. "How about Haru and Gold?"

"Fair enough." they murmured. After that, they bade Runic Night farewell and headed out.

Heading into the town square, the trio sat by the water fountain to discuss their plans. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger were planning on heading to a Dungeon for some levelling.

Just then, they heard a System Announcement: « _New Record Set at_ _Spiralling Tower_ _, Twenty-four minutes and thirty seconds by_ _Crescent Moon_ _Guild ―Windwalker, Kai..._ _»_ and the list continued on with eight more names.

"Well, would you look at that." Spring Breeze said in disdain. "Ten members set a twenty-four minute record and from Crescent Moon no less. That's so unfair. There's only three of us here."

Kise straightened. "It's not all about numbers, it's strategy." The Elf leaned forwards with a grin on his face. "I have an idea. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure,"

"But first, we need to get Runic Night."

...

_**[Munabu Graveyard]** _

The quartet stood outside the vaulted entrance to the Graveyard, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger preparing their minds to enter the dungeon. At first, they had wanted to head somewhere for some levelling, but Kise insisted that they should come here. They would be hitting many birds with one stone ―levelling, looting, and boss kill. Runic Night had gladly joined once Kise explained the plan, grinning like the unscrupulous businessman that he was.

When they were ready, they boldly stepped inwards, Spring Breeze was at the back with his bow and arrow poised and ready to act; Gold Digger and Runic Night were at the front, Kise was in the middle. The sky was of a dark green colour, with the clouds being black. There were mist hovering above the ground, add to that eerie look, tombstones were in abundance. Some had pieces broken off, some had weeds wrapping around them like parasites. In patches here and there, were withered trees that had meagre branches and barks.

Faint, eerie ghost cries were the sound effects used for this setting, and occasionally, there were the owls hooting.

"Alright, you remember the plan, right?" Kise asked.

"Of course." the others said in unison.

"But I do feel that it's a little insane." Gold Digger said, a little jittery. "I mean, a Cleric getting aggro? I've never seen or heard of such a thing before."

Kise laughed. "There's a first time for everything."

"Trust him if you want to clear this dungeon and set a record. This bastard knows what he's doing." Runic Night said, nudging Kise in the sides.

Entering the graveyard, without hitch, the quartet dashed off in different directions. Upon encountering the zombies, all three attacked just to get aggro. Achieving this, they turned and ran, pulling the zombies with them. Regrouping with each other, Spring Breeze quickly jumped onto a nearby tree branch, and after locking onto his targets, he released his arrows, hitting the zombies squarely. He had earned this skill when he had reached level 2, it was called "Arrow Volley".

The arrows looked like bright rays of light as they sailed towards their targets, illuminating the dark area. As the Archer continued to ruthlessly take down zombies within his sight, he suddenly felt something crash into his side causing him to stagger and fall. Nearly half of his HP was shaved.

"What was that?!" he shouted. He looked in the direction and saw many Skeleton Archers, their bows poised and ready to fire. "Shit!" He said as he scrambled onto his feet.

But Kise was ready and had quickly buffed and recovered Spring Breeze's stats. Using his sub-class, Spring Breeze created a whirlwind to defend against the oncoming the arrows. He stood near to Kise, not wanting anything to happen to their Healer...if he dies, they die too.

This time, Spring Breeze decided to jump onto a tombstone, which wasn't as high as the tree branch, but still gave him somewhat of a bird's eye view.

While Spring Breeze was dealing with the Skeletal Archers, Runic Night and Gold Digger were busy with the zombies. Runic Night was a Warrior, who wore light armour but carried a deadly blade in each hand. After using the "Evasive Roll" skill, Runic Night dodged the oncoming attack from the zombies, and then used "Vortex Slash" to inflict damage. This was swinging his blade in a wide arc, slicing anything within range in half. These skills he earned when he was at Levels 1 and 4 respectively.

Continuing forwards, Runic Night was merciless and even took a look in Gold Digger's direction. The Thief was quite crafty. Using his "Backstab" skill, Gold Digger appeared from the shadows and attacked the zombies from behind, landing nasty double damages. Somehow, he and Runic Night managed to coordinate with each other, whenever Gold Digger's attack fails to finish off a zombie, in its disoriented state, Runic Night lands the final blow.

Kise, of course, kept them healthy throughout all this, but silently counting down the time for when he'll some of the action. Runic Night knows him the best out of their party, there was more to Kise than meets the eye.

They continued to navigate through the dungeon, increasing their skills as the enemies got more difficult, looting everything in sight as well. Kise used his Holy Grenades to clear out the zombies quickly, as, they were aiming for a fast time as well. After rounding a corner past a chunk of earth, Runic Night spotted a tombstone, shaking slightly.

"Guys, be careful." he warned. "A tombstone's shaking...only one."

As if on cue, the System then announced: « _You have entered the Zombie Master's Tomb_ ».

"Well hell," Spring Breeze said in a whimper, "A Boss."

At that, the tombstone fell forwards on its face and a thick grey hand thrust upward. Another hand followed and soon, a monstrous zombie hauled himself up out of the ground. His clothes were tattered like the previous undead, but his skin was grey and not green. Its dark eyes were bright in the darkly lit area, its red lips looked as though it had just finished snacking on a person. In his hand, the zombie carried a massive axe, almost the size of two boulders combined.

With an ear-shattering cry, the zombie boss' black eyes swept across them as though choosing which one of the four he wanted to attack. But thankfully, they weren't in its attack range.

"Shit, that's the zombie boss? How the hell are we going to beat that?" Gold Digger said in shock. "That thing is huge!"

"I've never been here before," Runic Night quickly said to avoid the responsibility of plan formation.

"No one's been here before." Kise said with a perk. "This is going to be the first boss kill of this area."

"Huh?!"

Ignoring them, Kise said, "We need to scout it out first. We already know its attack range, we need to know what attacks it uses and how fast he can run." He then looked to Runic Night and Gold Digger, "Go draw it out. Gold, you use your stealth attacks to inflict damage," he turned to Spring Breeze, "Keep hidden but fire your arrows to help wear down its HP." Kise then made his million-dollar smile, "And don't worry, I'll keep you healthy."

At that, the three males headed off to do their jobs, Runic Night had run off first and as soon as he was within range, the Zombie Master dashed towards the warrior with a blinding speed. Seeing this, the others whistled, while Runic Night (barely) dodged. The large axe collided with the ground, causing the earth to quake and a shockwave to blow the boys' back.

Quickly recovering, Runic Night went towards the monster yet again, Gold Digger following closely in the shadows. With Runic Night grabbing aggro, it didn't have the time to notice Gold Digger. The Thief appeared as he disappeared inflicting damage here and there on the creature.

Spring Breeze followed Kise's orders and stayed hidden within the copse of trees, his green tunic and dark pants creating the perfect camouflage. Using his "Rapid Fire" skill where he released up to seven of his arrows in succession, he watched closely where Gold Digger struck, and targeted his arrows there.

Runic Night only struck whenever its attention was diverted to Gold Digger, although it was only a small window of a chance. But, he knew that Kise had his back, so without worry, he charged in and hacked away.

With his HP now wearing down, the Zombie Master suddenly sprang into the air, leaving behind a sonic boom. But that wasn't the end of it. It's jumping power was phenomenal, although it had a big body and weapon, the thing was surprisingly fast for an undead.

Buffing his party, Kise had now became the target of the Zombie Master. With a thrust in the elf's direction, the undead boss darted like one of Spring Breeze's arrows towards him. In that moment, Kise opened up his Holy Grimoire and put away his sceptre within. Then, crossing his hands over each other, Kise drew his weapons from his hip, switching to his Swordsman sub-class.

Two Katanas.

Gold Digger and Spring Breeze were shocked at this, Runic Night seemed a bit relieved. The blades of Kise's katanas glowed with a faint yellow light, and as they came in contact with the Zombie Master's axe, a bright light erupted from the collision. Kise was forced to jump back from the impact, the Zombie Master flew backwards the same distance, but howled out in anguish.

On its chest, there was a massive burn mark, proof that whatever attack Kise used had an effect. The Cleric then turned to Spring Breeze and said, "Aim your arrows at the burns," He dashed off, joining up with Runic Night and Gold Digger.

The Zombie Master rushed up to them in large strides, roaring in rage. But it's target was Kise, the one who hurt him so. Kise dashed forwards to face him while Runic Night and Gold Digger headed to the flanks, but they were only looking at its arm with the axe, while Kise focused on its feet. By the time Kise reached close enough to it, Spring Breeze's arrows had collided with its chest, sending it stumbling backwards. Kise and the others used this opportunity wisely and the three sliced away at its limbs. Using the "Rapid Slice" skill, Kise charged at the Zombie Master's feet and spinning like a whirlwind, sliced and diced the rotting flesh. Runic Night and Gold Digger hacked away at the monster's arms, causing it to drop its axe.

Scattering from the boss, the three boys then changed positions, Kise moving away and using another skill from his Cleric Class ―"Plague of Exhaustion". This removes buffs and inflicts damage the longer it is in use.

Seeing that the boss was close to death, Kise reverted to his Cleric class and drew out his Staff from his Holy Grimoire. "Haru, switch to Mage!" he ordered.

With a raise of his eyebrow, Spring Breeze put away his bow and darted towards Kise. He then made a gesture which meant that he should enter the fray. Wordlessly he dashed off, but using the skill "Aura of the Swift", Kise buffed his party by increasing their speed. This was especially useful for Gold Digger and Runic Night, as they were already fast from their given classes, but add Kise's buff and they were practically blurs.

Spring Breeze used this speed to cast Magic spells and evade the Zombie Master's attacks, as unlike the other two, if it weren't for this buff, he wouldn't have been able to dodge.

Glancing at the clock hovering above, Kise shouted, "Guys! We're at eighteen minutes!"

With a nod to each other, Runic Night and Gold Digger dispersed in two different directions, then, Spring Breeze started chanting some incantation, gathering energy towards his palm. In the other direction, Kise found his way upon the highest tombstone, held up his sceptre and opened up his grimoire. Gold Digger and Runic Night made sure to steer clear of the attack range of these two.

Just then, a dreadful silence enveloped the entire area as if welcoming a disaster. Within a flash, a big spell circle formed in front of Spring Breeze. A tunnel of wind shot forwards to the Zombie Master, slicing him as it raged on.

Following this, a bright ball descended from above, and as soon as it reached close enough, it exploded, enveloping everything in a blinding light. As the light dispersed, the Zombie Master was replaced with drops and rewards after which the System Announced:

_« First Boss kill at Munabu Graveyard: Demolition Regiment Party ―God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze, Straight Cloak Gold Digger, Raiden and Runic Night. »_

_« New Record Set at Munabu Graveyard: Twenty minutes and 50 seconds by Demolition Regiment Party ―God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze, Straight Cloak Gold Digger, Raiden and Runic Night. »_

Hearing that, the quartet was ecstatic. Getting their rewards, they exited the Graveyard with grins of joy and satisfaction.

"Man! Thank you Raiden!" Gold Digger said in glee. He and Spring Breeze had gained a total of six levels. "I never thought we could do it! And you too Runic Night!"

"I know right?!" Spring Breeze added. "But man, I have to admit, if this was a table top game, I'd be dead beat."

"We'd probably develop arthritis in our fingers." Kise joked. Due to the dungeon being a level 27, unlike Gold Digger and Spring Breeze who were at level 20 at entrance, the amount of experience Kise and Runic Night gained gradually decreased the more they levelled up. Thus, they only earned four levels.

"But, you're the first Cleric I've encountered that can kick ass." Gold Digger said in awe. "I'm pretty shocked. Usually the archetype will have low defense and attack."

"Yeah, well, I'm a solo player, so I figured I needed a way to fight and heal myself."

"If that's the case, why didn't you choose a class with self-heal or become an Alchemist and keep your Swordsman subclass? You could make your own recovery potions." Spring Breeze asked. "That makes more sense."

Kise shook his head. "Being a Cleric, I get invited to almost every party, to almost every raid that's happened so far. I get some good rewards, you know?"

"Hmm...to each his own anyway." Spring Breeze shrugged. The quartet continued to chat as they returned back to the town, going back to Runic Night's store to relax. As time went by, Kise realized that it was time for him to log out and get some sleep.

"Well, I have to go. See you when I see you again, Haru, Gold." He said to the two, "Until next time Rune!"

Kise swiped his hand downwards to open up the menu. However, his happy face turned grim in a matter of seconds. Without alerting the others, he tried to call the Game Master, but to no avail.

"Hey guys," he said with a shaking voice. "Can you log out?"

"Huh?" Runic Night asked. "You don't have a log out option?" He did the same action as Kise, and similarly, he didn't see the option. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger as well, they started freaking out. Wanting to get more information, the trio dashed out into the streets and questioned other players as well.

Little did they know that it would start a mass hysteria.

When the players found that the log out button had mysteriously disappeared and the Game Master wasn't responding to their calls, they were panicking. Some even got panic attacks, not knowing how they'll escape.

"Maybe if someone removes the NerveGear we'll get out." Spring Breeze said in hope.

"But a force removal? Won't that fry our brains?" Gold Digger wondered. "Hell, if you do anything by force, the outcome is always unfavourable."

Just then, the players heard a ping sound. Opening up the menu, they all saw that it was a "gift" and out of curiosity, they clicked on it. A bright light then enveloped all the players. Freaking out, they screamed, thinking that they were heading to their doom. After the light subsided, the players realized that they hadn't moved, but the people who they were standing beside weren't there. Or rather, had a different face.

"Raiden, is that you?" Spring Breeze asked, staring at Kise. Spring Breeze was now a black haired youth with green eyes. Gold Digger took out a dagger and gave it to Kise. He looked at his reflection and gasped in shock.

"What happened to my avatar?!"

"I take it that our avatars were replaced with our real-life selves." Gold Digger said, he was surprisingly calm in all this mess. He had ash-blond hair and blue eyes."So, where's the evil mastermind that'll tell us we're trapped in a death game?"

"What the hell are you talking about?! Don't try to scare me!" Kise shrieked, he prayed that Gold Digger was joking about the 'death game' part.

"He watches too much anime." Spring Breeze said with an eye roll. But, he was still perturbed by this incident. What caused them to suddenly change their appearance to that of their real bodies? And why did the log out button mysteriously disappear?

"Raiden," Spring Breeze started, "how long have you been playing this game?"

"Three months. And I've never experienced _anything_ like this before."

"So you got the game on the day it was released?" Spring Breeze asked again. Kise nodded. "Nao and I started playing a month ago. But this just doesn't make any sense. Why of all times there's a catastrophic event such as this? What's the company doing?"

"Do you really think it's the company's fault?" Kise asked. "I mean, let's take Gold's idea and say it's reality. Why would this mastermind wait until now to trap us? On the day _Arcanum_ was released, about fourteen thousand people logged in and started playing. Why didn't he trap us then?"

"That makes sense." Gold Digger nodded in agreement. "So, if it's not the company's fault then whose is it? Terrorists? Hackers? Extraterrestrials?"

"I'd say terrorists." Kise and Spring Breeze said in unison. The idea of extraterrestrials was too far-fetched.

"Holding thousands of Japanese hostage for ransom is pretty plausible. But the question is, how are they doing it?" Spring Breeze said.

"They probably hacked the server and removed the log out button." Gold Digger shrugged.

"Even so, it still boils down to one thing," Kise pondered, "Given that the release of _Arcanum_ was known internationally a year before it hit the Japanese markets, why wait until now?"

Unable to counter that, the trio headed back up to Runic Night's store, only to find a despondent looking young man. Neither boy could decipher his age, but he seemed to be in his late teens-early twenties. He had spiked black hair and matching eyes, his skin was like porcelain. The boys could tell that he was Runic Night, since he was in the same clothing that the redheaded Elf wore.

His onyx eyes met theirs, and he couldn't help but gape at Kise. "Raiden..." he started, "...you were Kise Ryouta? _The_ Kise Ryouta?"

"Yeah," Kise chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head. "How do you know?"

"My little sister is a huge fan of yours. She has all your photobooks." He said with an eye roll.

"Tell her thanks when we get out of here."

When Kise said that, silence engulfed them yet again. The air suddenly felt heavy, and no one knew what to say. In the streets there were chaos and mass panic, people worrying about not only how they'll escape from the game, but how their real bodies will survive. This was a problem for those who lived alone, and that fear was driving them insane.

"Umm, I'll be going home." Kise said, the heavy atmosphere was too much for him. Plus, he needed to escape from all the screaming in the background. "Anyone wants to come?"

"Home? As in, in-game home?" Spring Breeze asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I told you. Once I'm spotted, if someone needs a Cleric in their party, I'll join. As such, I've racked up quite some money and decided to purchase a house. I need somewhere to chill."

"You bastard..." Runic Night laughed. "Now you make me want to change classes."

The quartet exited from the store, following behind Kise. Everywhere was currently in chaos, players were freaking out, while some fell into depression and resigned themselves to their fate.

"This really is the worst." Gold Digger said as he looked at the players' reactions. The others agreed in unison.

 


	2. Creating A Guild

Chapter 2

...

"Why isn't he answering his phone? He didn't forget did he?" Kasamatsu hissed as he ended the phone call.

"Kise's the one who planned this, so obviously he wouldn't forget." Nakamura replied. "Maybe he's still asleep? After all, he plays _Arcanum_ a lot."

At this moment, Kasamatsu, Nakamura and Kobori were sitting at the train station, waiting for their other teammates to arrive. It was a bright Saturday morning, and on this day, Kise had actually planned for Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles to come together and hang out. They had all agreed to it, with Winter Cup over and done, there were no hostile feelings. But, the blond ace has yet to arrive. Neither Moriyama.

"Hey guys!" a voice called out to them as if on cue. Turning their heads, they saw their shooting guard jogging up to them with a grief-stricken look on his face.

"Moriyama...what's with the dismal expression?" Kobori asked. "You failed to pick-up a girl on the way?"

Moriyama sighed. "I wish that were the case." He took a seat beside them while the others all raised their eyebrows at him. Picking up girls was Moriyama's thing, the others will usually join him whenever he needs them for his mixers. Hearing the boy say that, meant that whatever it is, was grave. "Have you seen the news this morning?"

"No." the others responded.

"It's about Arcanum." He started, immediately the others stiffened. His voice was low and sounded dejected. "As of yesterday evening, players are trapped in the game unable to log out."

Kaijou gasped in shock. It was no secret in the entire club that Kise was an avid player of the game, so hearing that got them fretting.

"So...Kise is trapped in there as well?" Kasamatsu asked. Deep down, he was praying that Kise didn't log in.

"I don't know, but it's highly likely."

"Can't they remove the NerveGear? Or shut down the game? Won't that free them?"

"It won't." Moriyama said in distress. "A couple families tried that and it ended up frying their loved ones' brain, killing them instantly. And as such, the company released that no one should attempt a force removal."

"So, what caused it?" Nakamura asked. "Is SuperSonic trying to fix this bug or what?"

Moriyama shrugged. "They say that they have no idea what's causing it. Police are investigating and found nothing wrong with the server so far."

"WHAT?!"

"That's right. It's almost as though some unknown force is keeping the players there."

"Extraterrestrials?" Kobori asked, he was just throwing out ideas. "Terrorists?"

"I don't know." Moriyama said in a doleful tone. All that were on their minds was that their ace was safe from harm. However, part of them knew that Kise was trapped in the game. Given how often he plays it, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was currently trapped.

"Can't we go visit his house to find out?" Kobori asked. "I mean, I want to know if Kise is safe or not. I know that a part of me knows he's in the game, but I need to see his obnoxious blond hair and hear his annoying screeches just to be safe."

"I agree." Kasamatsu said as he got up.

…

The Seirin regulars were walking leisurely to the train station. They chatted about anything that came to mind, Kagami was spinning a basketball on his fingers. He got teased about it, the Senpai joking that he should get married to the ball. As they neared the station, the topic suddenly changed.

"Have you seen the news?" Hyuuga started up. "The one about the VRMMORPG."

"Ah, Arcanum game. Yeah, I have." Izuki replied. "It's sad though. Players are trapped in a game they love."

"Add to that, they can't just yank off the NerveGear because it'll kill them." Koganei said with a sigh. "It must be terrifying."

"But if they love the game, wouldn't they be glad that they can play the game non-stop?" Kagami asked.

Everyone sighed.

"Baka." Riko sighed. "It's not like it's their real bodies that are trapped within the game. It's their consciousness. Which means, their real bodies are left unattended, and for those who live alone, their homes can be broken into. If that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is."

Kagami swallowed a lump in his throat. It really is. Scenarios are running through his mind, wondering how will the players' bodies will keep healthy and many things along that line.

They finally reached the station and boarded it. Kuroko had gotten a message from Momoi that she and the Miracles were already there. After some minutes they reached their destination, but they didn't see Kaijou at the designated meeting place. The Miracles and Momoi were there, but not Kaijou. Not even Kise, who had been the one to schedule this.

"Are they late?" Kagami asked.

"They shouldn't be. We're in their prefecture, so they should be the ones waiting on us." Akashi replied calmly, glancing at his wristwatch.

"Right, and Kise, he's the one who got us to come all the way out here and he isn't even here!" Aomine grumbled.

"Calm down Dai-chan, I'm pretty sure that something's come ―" she broke off as they heard a ringing.

Hyuuga pulled out his phone from his pocket and when he saw the ID, he quickly answered. "Yes, Kasamatsu?" They were both captains, so it's like unwritten that Hyuuga addresses the older teen without honorifics. He then put the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear.

" _Have you all reached the meeting area?"_ He asked.

"Yes, everyone's here and waiting. Where are you guys?"

" _Sorry about that. We're all at Kise's house and wondering if you guys could come too."_

"Huh? Why?"

" _Have you heard the news? The one about the VRMMORPG game?"_

"Yeah, the players are trapped in it."

" _Kise is one of the players...and there's something you have to see."_

Riko snatched the phone from Hyuuga and said, "Message me the address!"

…

When Riko, Seirin and the Miracles arrived, they hadn't the time to be surprised about the size of the boy's house. They were concerned about the blond model. Despite him being chatty and irritating sometimes, they call cared for him. Pressing the doorbell incessantly, Aomine couldn't wait for an answer and almost bust down the door. When it opened, they saw Moriyama, who wordlessly led them upstairs to Kise's room.

"So where are his parents? He lives alone or something?" Koganei asked.

"No, his father brought his body at the hospital since yesterday, when we came, his mother was preparing to leave." He replied. Finally, they made it into the blond's room, and what they saw on his multi-monitors left them shocked. There, on the screens was the Arcanum game, showing Kise and three other boys walking around in what seemed to be a town.

"What on Earth?" Akashi gave out.

_xxxx_

"So, how are we going to tackle this problem?" Spring Breeze started up. "Are we going to wait it out or…?"

"Well, I actually plan on attempting to complete the game. I'm not going to sit here and lounge." Kise replied. "Might as well I get busy." he then added, "Plus, who knows? Maybe if we clear the game, we're freed."

"Makes sense." Runic Night joined in with a nod. At the moment, they were in Kise's in-game house, a peaceful two-storey log cabin house that was located away from the bustle of the town square. At the outset they were stunned, as this house seemed to cost of money. They never questioned Kise, as he stated it earlier, he was a Cleric and as such, he's indispensable to every party. Which meant, he was invited to a lot of raids, and as such, earn a lot of money.

"I'd love to discuss our modus operandi, but guys, we can't do that on an empty stomach. We haven't ate for a day." Gold Digger piped in. He then got up and headed to kitchen and proceeded to look about. "Guys, we have a problem." He said.

"Hmm, what's that?" Kise asked.

"No food."

"Eh?!" they screeched. They looked at Kise who said with a sheepish smile,

"Oh right." he shrugged. "This is my place to chill, I don't stock up on food because I usually log out when I need to eat."

"Okay rich boy, let's go shopping." Runic Night said to Kise, standing up.

"Excuse me? You three are freeloading here! At least buy some food with your own money!"

"We're broke." all three gave out.

"We went to a dungeon yesterday! How can you be broke!?" Kise screeched. "Especially you Rune! You own a weapon shop!"

"Nao and I were planning on upgrading our weapons. Now that we're stuck in here, I don't know if weaponsmiths are going to hike up their prices." Spring Breeze said, Gold Digger nodded in agreement. Kise let out a sigh, he knew very well how the businessmen in this game could be. Runic Night being the most unscrupulous of them all.

"Fine, but Rune, don't think you've escaped." Kise said. "It's either you give me some Holy Grenades or we buy food together."

"It's fine. I can give you a couple Grenades since you let me in on the dungeon." Runic Night said with a smile. "So, let's go get some food."

As such, the four boys headed out, back to the town square. Along the way, the chaos and panic from yesterday died down, but there were many players laying by the wayside looking despondent. Kise felt sorry for them, but wallowing in self-pity will not make the situation better. But he had to sympathize with them. If he was older and lived alone, maybe, just maybe, he'd be a panicking mess as well.

Soon, they rounded a corner and looked at the NPC stalls and stores. Not knowing what to buy just yet, they decided to accompany Spring Breeze and Gold Digger to upgrade their weapons. Navigating their way through the streets and buildings, the quartet finally made it to a weaponsmith. He was a young man, and looked like a typical Japanese ―black hair and black eyes. Upon seeing the group, his eyes perked up.

"Naoki! Seiya!" he chirped. "Glad to see you! Although I'm not glad that you're stuck here as well."

"Good to see that you're healthy and not beaten to a pulp for your prices, Yahiko." Gold Digger drawled as he sat on the stool at the counter. Spring Breeze followed suit, Kise and Runic Night were still by the door, not wanting to intrude upon their reunion or whatever.

"What are you talking about?" Yahiko huffed. "My prices are much cheaper than the other bastards."

Looking at the prices, Kise had to agree. In comparison with his weaponsmith, these prices are far much better. As of the moment, he's seriously considering about switching. His pocket wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

"Oh, these two are Raiden and Runic Night or Rune for short." Spring Breeze introduced. He then turned to the two, "And this is Yahiko, our childhood friend."

"Nice to meet you." the three said.

"Anyway let's get down to business." Gold Digger said, "I'm getting hungry."

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger handed Yahiko their weapons for an upgrade. The black-haired boy disappeared into a room, while the others sat and waited. For a while, they sat in complete silence, but then Runic Night said,

"So, what level is he at? If he's good, I'm seriously contemplating on switching."

"Wow, I was thinking that as well." Kise joined in. "My weaponsmith is too damn expensive. To upgrade one of my katana, he charges an arm!"

"Well, you're in luck." Spring Breeze grinned. "He's at level 27."

Kise and Runic Night exchanged glances and nodded in satisfaction. A couple minutes later, Yahiko returned with the upgraded weapons. They gleamed with a soft lustre, and looked like brand new weapons. Spring Breeze's bow seemed a bit bigger, and the heads of the arrows were shining. Gold Digger's daggers and knives were sparkling.

"It does look like something beautifully done." Runic Night commented. "I like it."

Kise then inspected both his katana and saw that they weren't ready for an upgrade as yet. He then looked to Yahiko,

"I'll be coming back."

"I'll be waiting." Yahiko replied. There's no way he'll let any prospective customer get away. He is, after all, a business owner. The quartet then left, and headed out to purchase food. However, along the way, there were players from various guilds advertising and trying to recruit members. It was somewhat reminiscent of a high school's opening ceremony, but these people are more stringent. A lot of guilds prefer players who were at a certain level or above, or some prefer certain classes with certain skills.

By the time the four finished their shopping, they returned to Kise's house and settled in the living room.

"Are any of you going to join a guild?" Gold Digger asked, the silence was getting to him.

"That's the first thing you're asking about?" Runic Night said with a laugh. "I can't believe that these guilds are starting recruitment already. They aren't playing." he gasped.

"I know, right?" Spring Breeze agreed. "But it makes sense. Now that players are trapped here, they'll need a sense of security or something. So naturally, they'll opt to join a guild."

"Hmm, that's true." Kise replied. "Although I never thought of joining a guild before, since I'm stuck here for God knows how long, I think I might reconsider."

"I don't think I would." Runic Night said with a shrug. "I mean, won't guilds exploit us or something? I don't want to feel like I'm working a 9 to 5." he looked to Kise, "Especially you. If you join a guild and they find out how badass you are, then kiss your freedom goodbye. _They will milk you dry_." He emphasized the last sentence a little bit too much.

Once again, they fell into silence, but at this, Gold Digger headed into the kitchen to put his Chef subclass to good use. But, he didn't know what to cook. The ingredients were pretty vague, meat, flour, bread, things like those.

"Umm, guys, what should I make?!" he shouted. The kitchen was a distance from the living room after all.

"Make some ramen!" Spring Breeze suggested.

"Burgers!" Runic Night said, drooling.

"Just cook!" Kise snapped.

"Am I able to make ramen with game ingredients?" Gold Digger asked. "Is that even possible?" The others looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"How the hell are we supposed to know?" Runic Night said. "Aren't you the chef?"

"Just don't make any of the game's shitty food." Spring Breeze said, twisting his face in disgust. The others nodded in agreement. Prior to them being trapped, a lot of players had actually bought in-game food just to experience what it'll taste like. And to say that they would prefer to starve would be an understatement. In-game food had no taste, no flavour, no spice ...nothing like the real world.

With a shrug, Gold Digger got to work and decided that he'd make something that he knows best from the real world. With a hum, he started cooking.

After the minutes passed and the scent was wafting in from the kitchen, the trio's mouths began to drool. This smell was all too familiar and they knew, that whatever Gold Digger was cooking up, would be delicious.

Soon, the ash-blond strolled out of the kitchen, holding onto a large pot. Without a word, he spun on his heel and headed back into the kitchen, only to come out with another large pot and wooden spoons. Opening the lids, Runic Night, Kise and Spring Breeze were trembling from delight.

"Oh shit, it smells like curry," Runic Night drooled. Gold Digger then served a plate.

"Oh shit, it looks like curry." Kise said, taking up a spoon and ready to dig in.

"Oh shit! It tastes like curry!" Spring Breeze screeched as he took a mouthful.

The three looked to each other, "It's curry!"

Gold Digger served himself and joined in the feast. The other three were crying tears of joy at the taste of such good food, as they had been fretting that Gold Digger may only be able to reproduce the food of this game.

"How lucky we are to have you!" Runic Night said, stuffing his face. "Don't you ever leave me!"

"But...weren't you guys planning on joining a guild or something?" Gold Digger asked.

"Never!" they screeched. He noted that their attitudes seemed a bit different ever since they got fed.

"You know, I just thought of something." Kise said.

"What's that?"

"Can't we use this to make money?"

Runic Night's eyes brightened and he threw an arm over the blond. "I like how you think."

"I mean, in-game food is shit, so many players will be glad to have a plate of curry." Kise's eyes beamed as he looked at Gold Digger. "What else can you make?"

"Huh? In-game or from the real world?"

"From the real world of course." he answered.

"Practically anything that's not gourmet. I can cook, you know?" Gold Digger huffed with pride. Runic Night caught on to Kise's idea.

"Use the ingredients and cook whatever you can. I wanna see something." Kise smiled. With a raised eyebrow, Gold Digger headed back into the kitchen and started cooking.

…

After what seemed like an eternity, Gold Digger called them into the kitchen to see the dishes. Of course, he used up all the groceries they bought, but that was the least in Kise's eyes. Right now, he felt like he could sympathize with Isaac Newton when he discovered gravity.

Before them was a bowl of steaming hot ramen, a burger, omelette rice, onigiri among other things. The trio tasted them all, and experienced spasms every time. They tasted like the ones in real life. Although they were made with in-game ingredients, they tasted real.

"Gold, you have done exceptionally well." Kise said, with tears streaming down his eyes.

"Ah, thanks." the boy said with a smile. "I could have done more, but we ran out of groceries."

"We can always buy more." Runic Night joined in. He then looked to Kise. "We can make money."

Spring Breeze, after stuffing his face, said, "But there's only one chef here. Catering for the masses won't be easy." Kise and Runic Night's face twisted in realization. As humans, they knew how mankind could get when in need of something and is unable to get it. Especially if it's right in front of them.

"But I have an idea." Spring Breeze continued with a smirk. "We start a guild." The other three looked at him incredulously. "Come on, we'll be the ones making the rules and whatnot. Plus, we can employ people to assist."

Kise and Runic Night sat on the stools nearby with grins on their faces. "I'm listening," they both said. At this moment, Gold Digger and Spring Breeze were a little bit taken aback. They sounded like evil masterminds plotting something diabolical.

"If we create our own guild, we'll be able to recruit more chefs. More chefs mean more dishes, and with dishes we can open a restaurant and with restaurants come money." the raven-haired Archer explained with a "business" smile. "Add to that, if we recruit enough of any class there'll be benefits."

Runic Night perked up, "If we get enough weaponsmiths, my store will have a steady supply of weapons!"

"And we'll get upgrade discounts!" Gold Digger joined in. He was bursting with joy.

"Pfft!" Kise chuckled. Everyone stopped. "That's what you're hooting about?" He stood up and walked over to where the dishes were. "Gold is a chef that can make real world food, right?"

"Well, he just demonstrated." Spring Breeze said.

"If I'm right, only a player with a chef class can do such a thing." He grinned. "Which means, if we apply the same principle to other creative classes, only a weaponsmith should be able to create weapons, and so on." he continued, "Do you get what I'm trying to say here?"

"Raiden..." Runic Night said, looking as though he'd tear up. "...where the hell have you been all my life?!"

Kise flinched away, "In Japan." He deadpanned.

"That's a pretty good idea," Gold Digger nodded as he tapped his chin in thought. "So does that mean everyone's on board for starting a guild?"

"Of course!" the other three responded with too much enthusiasm.

"We'll be killing so many birds with one stone! If we recruit enough fighter types, we can do to dungeons and loot like crazy! If we get the chefs, we can open a restaurant and get money! If we get enough weaponsmiths, we can create weapons and armour and get upgrade discounts. If we get enough Alchemists, we can create potions and stuff...oh my God! The possibilities are endless!" Spring Breeze shrieked in delight.

"But, how do we even start a guild?" Kise then asked, destroying their mood completely.

"I think you get a charter from some place, fill in the blanks, and then register it at some other place." Runic Night replied.

"Don't forget every guild needs a Leader."

"Is this charter thing free? Is registration free? Who will be our Guild Leader? Hell, where will the Guild Hall be?" Kise questioned. As a solo player, he didn't know much about game organizations.

"Guild Leader ―Raiden," Spring Breeze suggested. "Guild Hall ―here."

"Oi!" Kise shouted. "Wait a minute! Why can't Runic Night be the Guild Leader? And this is my house! It's not going to become a Guild Hall!"

"I can't be the Guild Leader, I have a store to run." Runic Night shrugged, killing Kise's hope instantly. "Gold Digger can't be it either because he needs to focus on feeding us." he then looked to Spring Breeze, "You look like you have a sensible head on your shoulders. Why don't you take it up?"

"I don't think I'm the leader-type." Spring Breeze admitted. Gold Digger leaned back to avoid being in Spring Breeze's line of sight and shook his head vigorously. He even mouthed a "Hell no" with a serious face to the others.

"So..." Kise started. He really didn't want to finish that sentence.

"You're Guild Leader Raiden!" they perked. Kise rolled his eyes at the fools. It was then he wondered how did he end up getting stuck with them. Deep down inside, the blond wanted to strangle them.

"So, where will the Guild Hall be?" Kise asked leaning backwards in his chair. "And do we even have enough money to purchase one?"

"The charter costs like twenty gold coins, and the price of a Guild Hall varies. More space, more money." Runic Night explained. "However, you can add on as the guild expands in size. The game permits that."

"Seriously?"

"Of course! No one knows how many people will join at the outset or how much more will join as time passes."

The others nodded in agreement.

"So, who will we recruit?" Gold Digger asked. "Only chefs and such?"

"Hell no," Kise denied. "We should recruit everyone, regardless of class and level. We can't let other people get suspicious and pick up on what we're doing. Plus, we're in no position to be picky."

"So, Guild Leader," Runic Night started in a teasing tone. "I suggest you go get that charter before all the players are already in a guild."

Kise drew his katana in rage. "When we get out of here, you better pray that I don't run into you. In the real world, I'm not so forgiving."

Runic Night smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know Martial Arts."

Kise smirked, "Funny enough, so do I."

"Well, I'm going to see if I can recruit our very first Alchemist." Runic Night patted Kise's shoulder and headed out. "Wish me luck!"

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger exchanged glances as a thought came to mind. "Yahiko!" they both screeched before dashing out, seeming to follow after Runic Night. Kise sighed and he too headed out after closing up.

"I can't believe I went from solo player to Guild Leader in an instant." he groaned in agony. "What's next?" he scoffed. But then, he realized something. They didn't decide on a name. Not worrying too much about it, with a carefree shrug, Kise went to get the charter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Recruiting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Squishy" ―when a class/player is easy to get killed when targeted by either other players or monster mobs.

Chapter 3

…

Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles gaped in shock.

First, players of this game are unable to log out for an unknown reason. Second, they're seeing what's unfolding with Kise right before their eyes. Kaijou were the most shocked, being that they knew what Kise's avatar looked like, so seeing their ace's real self was surprising. But, at the moment, even though they were far from being relieved, everyone was glad that no harm befell him...so far.

Actually, they were curious as to how Kise would behave now that he's chosen as Guild Leader. Just then, Nakamura's phone rang. Looking at the lock screen, he saw that he received a message from his older brother. Without even reading it, he knew what the message entailed.

"Guys, he's here. I'll go get him." the ash-blond said. The rest of Kaijou nodded.

"Who's here?" Riko asked, everyone's curiosity was raised.

"Shion. His older brother." Kobori said.

"What's he doing here?" Hyuuga asked. For everyone except Kaijou, they were wondering the same thing.

"Shion is a police officer. We thought that we should let them know that we can see inside the game. What if it's the same with the other players? Maybe it could help the police to solve this madness." Moriyama said with a sigh. "Hopefully."

After Moriyama spoke, the door opened revealing the Nakamura brothers. Looking at Shion, the others saw that Nakamura was like a younger version of him with glasses and thicker eyebrows. Shion greeted the group after which they dispersed and allowed the young officer to see the multi-monitors.

"Is this...Arcanum?" Shion asked in shock, pushing back his left hair fringe. His eyes were widened.

"Yeah," Nakamura answered. "We're seeing everything that happens in the game. But only if Kise's there."

"Really?!" Shion gasped. He then looked closer at the screens and noticed something, "Do players in Arcanum have to customize their avatars to look like their real selves?"

"No," Kasamatsu answered, scrolling through his phone. His scrolling then stopped and showed the phone to Shion. "This is his avatar."

"A white-haired purple eyed Elf? Quite the cutie." Shion looked up from the phone and back to the screens. "So how did it change to his real self? Where's his body?"

"At the hospital." Nakamura responded. "And we don't know what caused the change."

Shion was stumped. If his body with the NerveGear attached was at the hospital, how were they seeing the game on the boy's monitors? Arcanum isn't a table top game, so how and why was this happening? He handed the phone back to Kasamatsu and said,

"Send me that photo."

Kasamatsu did just that, and Shion bade farewell and left to inform his superiors of this situation. He was no detective, so this was out of his league. But, he told the boys that if he heard any good news, he'll be sure to tell them as long as they don't issue a gag order or something.

Shion dashed out of the house and immediately called his colleague who was at the Kōban. The elder officer answered after one ring, and Shion rattled off everything to him, and told the colleague to inform their headquarters (although Shion didn't need to). Shion ended the call, and exhaled a sigh of relief. With them being able to see and hear what's happening inside the game, and with the players looking like their real selves, Shion surmised that the investigators may be able to find out what's happening through the players' conversations with each other.

As soon as he moved off, his work cellphone rang, and he saw that it was a call from their Headquarters. He whistled, not all that surprised at the quick response.

" _Junior Officer Nakamura, what is your location?"_ The man on the other end of the line asked. Shion looked at Kise's address plate and responded word-for-word. " _We'll be dispatching an investigator, return to the Kōban and wait there."_

"Yes Sir."

…

Shion returned to the Kōban and as soon as his colleague saw him, he began asking questions. Shion told him what he could, and the poor man didn't know whether or not he should be happy that this discovery could help the investigation, or mortified that everything the players did is being shown to whoever is around.

The investigator from HQ arrived and once again, Shion told him everything that he witnessed and about Kise's avatar. He wasn't sure of the other players he's seen around the blond, but they did look like how a normal Japanese would look. Soon, the investigator left and headed to Kise's house. So far, there hasn't been any report for any of the players trapped, and wondered if this phenomenon was only happening to Kise.

A couple minutes later, they had arrived and once again, Nakamura went to meet him. Shion had already messaged him that he was coming, and without hitch, the ash-blond led them to Kise's room where the others were watching the blond meeting all sorts of people.

"Good day, I'm Inoue Rihito, police investigator," the tall man greeted. He flashed his badge as proof of identification. When the group was at ease, Rihito began his questioning, and most of these could only be answered by Kaijou. The Miracles were somewhat shocked and ashamed at this, since they have known Kise longer.

When the investigator was satisfied with the answers, both he left, informing HQ of this discovery.

_xx_

Kise was the first one to arrive back home, glad that the process of establishing a guild was fairly easy. Prior, he had thought that he'd have to be running around, but everything was done at one place. Seeing that no one else was home, he took a bath to relax himself. So far, it's been the second day since they've been trapped, but there haven't been any fights or senseless warfare...yet.

After he was done, he got dressed, but didn't put on his shoes. He was in his house and it was clean, plus there was no need to walk around in his boots. Going into the living room, Kise once again checked for the log out button, but it still hasn't come back. Kise sighed in distress.

At the moment, Kise was looking aimless. The others were yet to arrive and he wondered what they were up to. Nevertheless, he relaxed in his chair and pondered on his next step. Conquering this game will take a lot, travelling across the land and fighting off monsters that spring up.

Kise let out a sigh.

How long are they going to be stuck here? And what will happen if they die? If this is like what Gold Digger said when they had discovered that the log out button was gone, then does that mean, they'll die in real life? If that's the case, then one mistake could cost them their lives. Kise raked a hand through his blond hair. He closed his eyes and thought. In the three months that he's been playing the game, there hasn't been an indication of anything out of the norm. There could have been, but due to him having fun and such, he wasn't paying attention.

Kise let out a groan.

This was getting nowhere. He didn't know how they were all stuck here and what caused the disappearance of the log out button. The only plausible idea they had was that terrorists hacked the system, but the police should be able trace it or even pick it up, right? But, if it isn't caused by terrorists, then who could it be? A glitch or bug wouldn't cause this. The System would have announced something, and the Game Master would have responded to their calls.

Kise felt a headache coming on.

"I think I should stop." He mumbled to himself. He was jolted up as he heard a shout and the door opening with a bang. Immediately, he drew both his katana and waited for the intruder to come in further. He wasn't going to be complacent just because he's in a game. As soon as the figures entered into view, he waited until he heard a voice,

"Raiden! Guess what?"

Kise let out a sigh and sheathed his katana. It was Gold Digger. "What is it?"

"Yahiko agreed to join." he said, taking a seat beside the blond. At this, Yahiko and Spring Breeze walked in, Yahiko bowed as he entered. Without hitch, Kise added Yahiko to the guild and let out a sigh of relief at his in-game name ―Iron Admiral. He didn't think he'd be able to stifle down his laughter or hide his disgust if he should encounter a ridiculously sounding name.

Kise also found out that Yahiko's primary class was a Summoner and his subclass was the Weaponsmith. However, he wasn't much of a player so he developed his subclass instead. Kise didn't mind, as a matter of fact, he didn't care. But what he cared about was the fact that Yahiko was going to live here as well.

 _These homeless bastards_...Kise thought with a chuckle. But, if this continues, the place will get overcrowded. And this was his house, he wasn't running an orphanage.

"Well, where should the Guild Hall be?" Kise then asked.

"Why not here?" Yahiko said. "Seiya told me about the yard space around back. You could expand upwards and outwards. If you should purchase a guild hall now, depending on how much members there are, you'd have to expand." he continued, "It'll be cheaper to just renovate this place."

Kise gave Spring Breeze and Gold Digger the stink eye. Gold Digger pointed an index to Spring Breeze to indicate that he was Seiya. "You coached him, didn't you?" Kise asked.

"No I didn't! He asked about the guild hall and I told him! That's all!" The Archer quickly denied, shaking his head vigorously.

"Couldn't you have said that we didn't have one yet? Hmm?" Kise inquired.

"Well, I didn't want to discourage any prospective member into thinking that we're a bunch of homeless bastards." Spring Breeze quipped.

"I see." Kise then turned to Yahiko and greeted him. "Hello." He'd met Yahiko when Spring Breeze and Gold Digger went for their upgrades, but he still felt that he should greet the boy again.

"Hi." Yahiko said with a grin. He took a seat on of the chairs and looked around. "Great house you have here. You must be rich."

Kise made a nervous chuckle. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"So, are you going to renovate the house? After all, this doesn't look like a guild hall. Or rather, doesn't have the right rooming to be one." Yahiko asked.

"Yeah, I do plan to." Kise sighed in agony. "I can't bother to purchase another place and go through drama as you said."

"I can help with that. I know a Guild that specializes in building and such." Yahiko smirked. "Who knows? You may get a discount."

"You do?" Kise and his other two guildmates asked in unison.

"Yeah, but as I said, you _may_ get a discount. Depends."

Kise sunk back in his chair and groaned. He thought about the possible expenditure that he'll face, but if things go as planned, he needn't to worry. Plus, he and the others could always go hit up a dungeon to get some more money. After mulling over it, he then said,

"How fast can they start?"

"As soon as you pay them."

"Well, let's go." Kise sighed. He then turned to Spring Breeze and Gold Digger, "You guys are leaving me broke. As such, you'll be heading to a dungeon to repay me."

"As long as you come with, I'm fine!" Gold Digger chirped.

Kise's face became stoic. "I'm not."

Both he and Yahiko headed through the door, leaving Spring Breeze and Gold Digger gaping.

…

Runic Night slithered through the crowds in order to find who he was looking for. Everywhere he turned, there were posters and people advertising their guilds, enticing people to join. Of course, like before, these guilds' criteria are pretty strict, being extremely picky with their selection. Runic Night smirked. Even though if the other guilds succeed, their guild will be getting "weak" players and have to level them up.

"Well, with Raiden there, it shouldn't be a hassle." he grinned. As a Warrior, he's been scouted for raids and such before, and coincidentally, that was where he met Kise. He's got firsthand experience with the blond Cleric, and knows full well most of his capabilities.

Hastening his steps, he entered a small workshop without even knocking on the door.

"Oi, Silver! Are you in here?!" Runic Night shouted. "I have something you may be interested in!"

As if on cue, a tall black haired young man walked out. He looked to be in his early twenties ―older than twenty but younger than twenty-four. Runic Night stood frozen in shock. One of his in-game friends turned out to be his new chemistry teacher. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole at the moment, his teacher on the other hand, looked at him with a raised brow.

"Ishida-kun," the teacher started, startled to see one of his students. "You were trapped too? You poor thing."

"Ah," Runic Night didn't know how to start. "Are you Silver?"

The teacher nodded before asking, "Who were you? Judging from the way you barged in here and shouted..." he trailed off, "...you're Runic Night, aren't you?"

"Ye-yeah." He said, unable to meet his teacher's gaze. All his past actions and conversations with the man were resurfacing and oh, how he wanted to die. Could the universe have gotten any more cruel to him? First, Raiden turned out to be his sister's celebrity crush ―Kise Ryouta, now his trusted Alchemist is his chemistry teacher? Who's he going to run into next?

"No need to be so shocked and embarrassed." Silver said with a shrug. "Now, you said that there's something I might be interested in. You're free to speak."

Runic Night internally groaned. Why hadn't he picked up that Silver was someone of a professional background? The way he spoke, the way he treated his customers, the way he conducted himself in general was enough to hint at! Why was he so dense…?

"Ah, my friend is starting a guild." Runic Night started.

Silver's eyebrows rose. "Continue,"

"I can't tell you the plan until you say that you're going to join and actually join. We don't want other guilds to steal our ideas."

"Rest assured. I'll join. Seeing you now is stirring up the teacher within me. I have to protect you and guide you along the right path. And your friends too."

"Sensei! We're not in a classroom, you know?!"

"I know that. But this is a lawless world. I don't want you getting drunk, or mixed up in the wrong crowd or something dangerous that your conscience can haunt you for. You don't know who may be watching." Silver said sternly.

"This is a virtual reality! No one can be watching!" Runic Night countered.

"The Universe is quite evil, you know? So take me to your Guild Leader. I want to know what kind of plan he has hatched that you can't tell me before I join."

Runic Night chuckled. "Don't worry, it's nothing evil. Actually, it's quite beneficial."

"Hoh?" Silver's interest was piqued.

…

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger stood outside Kise's house and watched as the crafting players got to work. Kise was standing afar off, covering his mouth and bursting into tears as if he just saw his father's death. The blond and Yahiko had returned with "Famous Lighthouse", a guild that specialized in craftsmanship. Of course they had other classes, but primarily, they focused on creating buildings and renovating. Although the buildings they made were from the game commands and such, nevertheless, it still looked damn good when they were done.

"What's wrong with him?" Spring Breeze asked Yahiko. "Is he sad that he had to destroy his house and turn it into a guild hall?"

Yahiko laughed. "I wish! He's crying because he had to fork out 1.5 million gold coins on this! You should have seen his face earlier!"

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger's jaws dropped. They doubt that one player ever had so much money in-game before if they aren't money hoarders. But even so, equipment needs to be upgraded, and some need to be discarded and newer ones purchased as one increases in levels. So how was he so rich?

Curious, they headed over to the weeping blond and Gold Digger asked, "Raiden, why are you so rich?"

Kise looked at him blankly. "I told you," he said in between sniffs, "I get to join many parties because my primary class is Cleric. Plus, I do a damn good job at keeping my party healthy and debuff-free. And as such, I can go to like four raids on a good day."

"This monster!" Spring Breeze shouted in envy, totally ignoring the blond's crying face. "Why didn't I become a Cleric too!?"

"You think that being a Cleric is easy? It's hard work!"

"Wait, you are a Cleric?" Yahiko asked. He looked at Kise up and down. "I do admit that you look squishy, but I would have never guessed!"

"Really? Only Healer classes are decked out in mostly white garb like this." Kise said in a matter-of-factly.

"But you took out a pair of katana! Clerics don't use sharp weapons!"

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger laughed at his ignorance. "He's the exception."

After some more minutes passed, "Famous Lighthouse" was finished with their work and thanked Kise heartily and even commented that if he decided to renovate or add-on, he should contact them. They found out that the blond was rich, and refused to let such a customer forget them.

"Wow, construction in-game goes way faster than real-life huh." Gold Digger whistled.

"Well, that's because they're building using the game commands and not from scratch." Kise deadpanned. His tears have long dried up. They then entered the house from the left door on the covered porch and were amazed. The first thing that they encountered was a little horizontal hallway, and as they continued to their left, they stumbled upon a room. It was spacious, with only chairs and one large table.

"Which room is this?" Spring Breeze asked.

"I have no idea." Kise replied in a deadpan. He was still upset that he had spend so much money.

They then turned up the hallway and looked at the rooms on both sides. On the left, there was a smaller room compared to the first, while across from that was a spacious one that had numerous benches and tables and a small kitchen to the back.

"This is the social area." Yahiko beamed. "I swear, for a Guild Leader, Raiden didn't even know the basic rooms needed for a guild hall." He chuckled.

Kise looked away in embarrassment. "I was a solo player, so obviously I wouldn't know what the inside of a guild hall looked like." he murmured.

"I'm pretty sure that you've played other MMORPG games, right? You can't be _that_ ignorant."

"I've never stepped foot in a guild hall before. Excuse me for going off and enjoying the games I play." Kise said with an eye roll.

They moved on, checking out the other two rooms that were left. They were quite spacious, and once again, when asked what they were for, Kise simply replied, "when the other members are recruited, we'll know".

Travelling across another hallway between the social room and another room, they ended up at the stairs and wondered what upstairs looked like, or rather, what was up there. Spring Breeze nor Gold Digger have been upstairs Kise's house before and felt that now could be a good time.

"We don't need to go up there. Showers and rooms are present. That's it." Kise said, crushing their hopes immediately.

"So we get our own rooms? Yus!" Gold Digger cheered.

Kise remarked, "Of course not. Who knows which other homeless player you'll bring in here? I can't be constantly spending money on renovations, you know?" his face then darkened. "Remember, you'll be heading to a dungeon to repay me."

"What!?" Spring Breeze gasped. "You were serious?"

"Guys, he spent 1.5 million gold coins. Be reasonable." Yahiko coaxed.

Feeling sorry for them, Kise then softened, "Alright, go to the dungeon and buy food then."

"That sounds much better." Spring Breeze mumbled. He then looked to Yahiko and Gold Digger, "Well since our house is finished, let's head out and try to recruit some players before the other guilds get all the good ones!"

And such, the trio headed out, leaving Kise alone. With a shrug, he returned to the first room with the many chairs.

…

Runic Night returned with Silver in tow but stopped short when they came up to the guild. He whistled when he saw the construct and inwardly laughed at how Kise had to turn his house into a guild hall. Upon entering, Runic Night didn't know where to go, or where Kise was. Inside was totally different from what he was accustomed to, and he looked to Silver with a wry smile.

"Uh, apparently, they renovated while I was gone."

"It looks nice, although bland." Silver commented. "You need some paint or some ornaments."

The two then entered the room that Kise was in and saw the blond sitting and looking aimless. With a playful smirk, Runic Night headed towards him and said,

"What's with the look? Sad that your beloved house is now a guild hall?" he teased.

"I wish." Kise said with a sigh. "I had to fork out 1.5 million gold coins for this. I'm not amused."

Runic Night and Silver's jaws dropped. That's a lot of money in-game.

"Why are you so rich?" Runic Night asked in bewilderment. Not even he, who runs a weapon shop holds that much money. Kise didn't answer. He was sick and tired of people asking him the same thing. Was it so unusual to have in-game money?

Hearing the silence creeping up, Runic Night then introduced Silver to Kise, and also added that he was his chemistry teacher. Kise stared wide-eyed at the man, and internally cursed the man for not showing up sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he would have been the Guild Leader instead. After all, Silver is a teacher.

Kise then added the Alchemist to the Guild and since he trusts Runic Night, Kise told him about their money-making venture. Silver laughed at their antics, but agreed to join in as well. This new discovery of being able to create something that's not in the game commands seems promising. And with him being an Alchemist and a chemistry teacher, he's bound to have some fun.

Runic Night left to join Spring Breeze and the others in recruitment, leaving Kise and Silver. Unlike Runic Night, Kise was able to talk to the teacher with ease due to his personality, and the fact that Silver is quite young. And so, the minutes passed as the two continued their chat.

"Raiden, you here?!"

Kise and Silver were jolted as they didn't hear the door. Spring Breeze and Yahiko arrived with someone else in tow. The Archer looked at Silver with a raised brow but figured that he may be a new member as well.

Coming back to reality, he then said, "We've brought a prospective member!"

"Hello." Kise greeted. "I'm Raiden, Guild Leader. And this another member, Silver." Silver nodded his greeting.

"Yo." the newcomer said with a wave. He was a tall youth, with light brown hair and matching eyes. He was dressed in a black corduroy shirt with padded and studded sleeves and dark blue pants with hand sticking down the length of the pants in a lighter blue colour, tucked into knee-high black combat boots. On his left hip was a rapier, and immediately Kise knew to which class he belonged ―Swashbuckler.

"Oh." the newcomer said in surprise. "You look a bit squishy for a Guild Leader. I thought the other guy was it."

"Mah, looks can be deceiving." Kise shrugged. He wasn't going to refute what the newcomer said. If he still had his avatar, he'd look even more "squishy". Without wasting any more time, Kise sent the invitation to the newcomer and when he saw his in-game name, the blond stared with incredulity at the boy.

The newcomer's name was "King Aiza: Lord of the Common People".

It was then that he thought of choosing people with sensible (or less ridiculous) names, but he reminded himself, he can't be picky. Still, he wondered how on Earth did that name manage to hold in the name slot? Shouldn't he have run out of letters? Kise shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

He also found out that King Aiza's subclass was a Mage, and decided that he'll be pretty useful in combat. He was at Level 28 while Silver was an Alchemist and Assassin at Level 34. Kise then left the two explore the place, he knew he couldn't continue to talk to them as he'd just met them. He may be talkative, but not at the moment.

But, Kise's work was just beginning.

Not too long after Silver and King Aiza left with Spring Breeze and Yahiko to tour, Gold Digger and Runic Night arrived with a small crowd. Gawking in horror at these people, Kise looked at the two with shock.

"Where did these people come from?!" He asked. There was about twenty or more people present.

"Well, we advertised, and they came." Gold Digger said with a shrug. "Since other guilds are being pretty picky, I guess people will flock to us more."

"What are their levels?"

"Well, from my group, they range from as low as Level 16 to a high of Level 36." Runic Night said with pride. "Oh, and other guilds were looking for you in hopes of recruiting you. But don't worry, I told them that you've already been snatched away by a guild."

"I see." He then looked to Gold Digger, and the boy knew what he wanted.

"I got people from all over as well. The lowest is Level 10, and he just started playing a month ago. The highest is Level 30."

"Oh, okay." Kise nodded.

Due to the commotion, Spring Breeze, Yahiko, Silver and King Aiza had returned to see the crowd and the Archer's face lit up with joy. They just started and there has been so many to come already.

"Ah. Hello." Kise started to get their attention. Everyone looked at him. "I'm Raiden, the Guild Leader."

Silence followed. Kise exhaled a sigh of relief, seeing that everyone seemed to fine. However…

"You're too squishy to be a Guild Leader!" one man roared from the back of the room. He was covered in heavy armour, and the players could tell that he was a Knight.

"Is that so?" Kise asked with a raised brow. If the Knight had made that statement with less hostility and mockery, he would have bypassed it like he did with King Aiza, but no man is supposed to talk to him like that, in his own house.

"Of course! What can you do? Aren't you a healer?" the Knight asked again, his voice laced with mockery.

Kise nodded. "I'm a Cleric."

"Ha! A useless, good-for-healing Cleric like you as Guild Leader? This must be a joke!" He said with a sneer.

Kise stared, trying to hold down his anger. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Silver had wanted to stop them from the get-go, but Runic Night held him back. He had a smirk on his face, and Silver decided that maybe if he had intervened, it would have seemed like Kise couldn't defend himself.

"Hear what? Let's duel. If you lose, I get your guild."

A clamour broke out, being that Kise was a Cleric, and throughout the history of RPG and MMORPG, Healer archetypes suck in combat. As a matter of fact, the only thing they can do is heal. So, to see this Knight challenging a poor defenceless Cleric to duel is evil. However, there were some who believed the Knight to be right. Clerics can't run a guild.

"Yeah! I'll challenge him too!" Another player shouted. He was a Warrior.

"Ha! Greedy bastards! Count me in!" this time it was a Summoner.

"Fine. Let's go." Kise said with a perk. He had been wanting to de-stress anyway. Spending that exorbitant amount earlier caused him to be pent-up with emotions. Runic Night was rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind, planning to run a gamble to make some money. But then he remembered that his teacher was standing right next to him. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger grinned, Silver and King Aiza wanted to see just what Kise could do.

Kise led the way to the backyard, the space greatly reduced due to the renovation. The crowd followed the two eager to see the duel.

"Oh, and you can't self-heal. That'll be unfair." Knight said.

"Why not?" Kise asked.

"Because I can beat you to a pulp and all you can do is continuously heal yourself while I get tired."

"Fine." Kise shrugged.

Yet again, the crowd roared, expressing their displeasure and cheers. Kise didn't mind. But, he didn't underestimate the opponents. If anything, he treated him to be higher in level than he was, basketball taught him this valuable lesson. Since there were no referee, the crowd counted down from three to indicate when they should start. As soon as they said "go!", Knight took his stance and charged at Kise.

Due to his armour he wasn't that fast, but he had it in his head that Kise wasn't a fighter.

With a smirk, Kise unsheathed both his katana and dashed towards the Knight. He used "Aura of the Swift" to increase his movements, and then inversely held his katana. He made two slashes at Knight's chest armour, shaving his HP in half. Knight jumped backwards and held up his shield, but Kise wasn't inflexible. He moved so fast that he seemed to teleport, only to reappear behind the Knight and gave him a kick which sent him flying forwards.

Mercilessly Kise slashed at the Knight, using his "24 Slice combo". His blades gleamed beautifully as they slaughtered, everyone gaping in horror at the sight. When Kise saw that Knight's HP was dwindling, he paused and used the hilt to hit him in his temple, the Knight collapsing rather disgracefully before Kise. Due to the Cleric not knowing what would happen if players died, Kise didn't slice his head in two.

The Warrior charged up to him, brandishing his double swords. Without even a glance, Kise used "Plague of Exhaustion" to diminish his HP. Sensing that something was wrong, the Warrior stopped and looked around to see if he had walked into trap. Meanwhile, the Summoner was preparing to summon his familiars to attack Kise. The Summoner even healed Warrior while he was at it, as seeing Kise's strength earlier made them cautious.

But, Kise waited for the familiars to fully emerge from the magic circle. When the circle closed, a whopping twelve familiars were present, all had fire covering their bodies. Kise dashed towards them without using "Aura of the Swift" and opened up his grimoire while he was at it. He hadn't time to waste.

The Warrior made strides forwards in hopes of stopping Kise, the familiars trailing behind. Just then, a light appeared from the pages of Kise's grimoire, after which it faded. The Warrior made a roundhouse swing at Kise, which was followed by a volley of fireballs from the Summons. Ducking and dodging effortlessly, Kise skated his way to the midst of the group. It is here that he unleashed his attack.

From the ground went up a circular pillar of Light, the onlookers scattering not wanting to be caught up in its area of effect. However, the Warrior, Summoner and his familiars and the Knight were caught and perished miserably as the pillar faded.

This spell was called "Holy Reprisal" and its a spell that gets stronger as one levelled up.

The players disappeared into colourful pixelated fragments, Kise not having an ounce of regret that he may have just murdered three people. They say 'don't just a book by its cover', but obviously, those three didn't get the memo.

Turning to face the crowd with a darkened face, Kise said, "Anyone else?" he walked towards the crowd with an imposing aura, players were becoming frightened. Clerics weren't supposed to behave like this. "Is there anyone else who thinks they can take my guild from me? Or that I'm too squishy?"

Everyone was silent.

"How...?" One player asked. "That was...quick...and dangerous..."

Kise looked at him with fiery eyes. "I don't have the time nor energy to waste on useless trash. Naturally, I am going to dispose of them quickly." He spat with venom. But seeing how no one else had reacted to what he had asked earlier on, Kise's countenance completely changed to that of his normal disposition ―cheerful. "Great!" he perked in joy. "Now, all those who I've yet to add to the Guild follow me!"

But everyone was so dumbstruck that they hadn't moved. Seeing this, Kise turned and asked,

"You're not coming?" His voice sent chills down their spines.

"Hai!" the players scrambled and followed behind Kise, not wanting to invoke the Cleric's wrath. Instead of going back to the first room, they decided to go to the social area, since it had more space. Kise felt like he was signing autographs all over again, his hands starting to become numb. But during this, he's had his good laughs.

There were couple who had normal and reasonable names, but there were some who were outrageous. But all in all, he's got a couple occupations from the different Fighter, Healer and Spellcaster Classes, but he's gotten majority who were what he needed from the Artisan Classes. Chefs, Weaponsmiths, Alchemists, Craftsmen...he could already hear the sounds of the gold coins.

Pushing aside those thoughts, Kise looked to the crowd and said, "Alright, you're all free to leave. But be back here by tomorrow morning."

Everyone looked to each other before one Archer gave out, "I have no place to live. Couldn't I stay here?"

Kise paled. "Who else doesn't have anywhere to live?"

Everyone raised their hands.

Kise looked to Runic Night and company. The four made a playful shrug, ignoring Kise's murderous intent. Calming himself down, he sighed and said,

"Alright, I'll show you where you all can sleep." he then turned to Spring Breeze and company. "You're going to a dungeon immediately."

"What?! Why?!" Gold Digger asked.

"There aren't enough beds for all these people, and there isn't enough food to feed them." He deadpanned. "Get going."

Unable to counter, Spring Breeze, Runic Night, Gold Digger and Yahiko headed out back to Munabu Graveyard Dungeon. They chose this because Kise would kill them if they went to a new dungeon without him to help with the looting. Of course, they stocked up on recovery potions since Kise wasn't coming.

"Man, that blond is evil." Gold Digger complained as they exited.

"Well, he did spend a lot money earlier, so maybe he's broke. That's why he's venting it out on us." Runic Night said with a shrug. "We got to give and take."

"He isn't broke." Yahiko joined in. "He's got 1.5 million left. In all, he had 3 million gold coins."

"EEHH?!" The others screeched.

Yahiko stared on blankly. "Obviously he isn't broke. A player who's completely broke wouldn't be so normal right now. They'd be running off to every dungeon nearby." he then rolled his eyes. "It's common sense."

The other three were currently conflicted. They didn't know whether or not they should march back to the guild and give the Cleric a piece of their minds, or actually head to the dungeon to get some money. They chose the latter, since Kise is more likely to bust their asses like he did the Knight, Summoner and Warrior today.

Yes, they decided, they'll be good boys and head to the dungeon.

_xx_

Back in the real world, Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles couldn't believe their eyes nor their ears. At the beginning, they were hearing what Kise was thinking and found it somewhat intruding. A person's mind is their private space, so for them to be hearing his thoughts left them with a guilty conscience.

But throughout the entire thing, Kasamatsu and his teammates informed the others about the different classes in a typical fantasy RPG and the different gaming terminologies. But what shook them was the fact that Kise, their friend and ace who was supposed to be of the Healer archetype, was kicking ass ―awesome too.

The way he moved and the way he looked...was somewhat similar to basketball. It was almost as though they could feel his imposing aura through the screens. It sent a chill down their spines and Aomine was reminded of when he faced the blond in Inter-High, Kagami, Kuroko and the rest of Seirin felt as though they were facing his Perfect Copy yet again.

For a Cleric, Kise was far too vicious.

After they saw him return inside the guild and added the players, he lounged about and chatted with those who he could. The teams all laughed at this, seeing Kise being the chatter that they knew and loved (and found annoying).

The quartet that went to the dungeon arrived many minutes later, and the scene moved to Runic Night, Silver and Gold Digger leaving to buy food, Kise leaving the guild and heading back to the "Famous Lighthouse" for some beds. The players were were ecstatic upon seeing him back so soon, quickly they followed him back to the guild and placed in the beds.

When Kise was done with this task, the newly recruited members celebrated in joy but Kise told them to buy their own bedsheets. Surely, he thought they couldn't have been _that_ broke. The teams laughed at his antics, and was somewhat refreshed at his behaviour. They had imagined him to be flustered and confused not knowing what to do or how to act as a guild leader, but even Akashi was surprised at how smoothly he was taking things.

But knowing Kise, they surmised that later on, he'll be the clueless blond that they knew.

The hours passed and such, it was coming down to late evening, seeing that the players in the game were getting ready for bed as it was about the same time of day for them, the teams headed down the stairs and turned on the TV, wondering if there'll be any news. Shion hadn't texted Nakamura back yet, but they thought that maybe HQ would release something even without telling Junior Officers like Shion first.

And as they thought, there was a breaking news. It was a press conference, with the Minister of National Security and the Police Chief being present.

" _We of the National Police Agency have discovered that within the homes of the players trapped in The Lost Chronicles of the Arcana, are live footage of the game. On the computer monitors in each players' houses, one can watch and hear everything that is currently happening._

" _However, the footage shown on each computer only corresponds to with the presence of its owner."_ This was the Police Chief who spoke.

" _So what do you mean by the "footage shown corresponds with the presence of its owner"?"_ One male journalist asked.

" _For example, you and I both trapped in the game. However, my family is unable to see what you are doing, only me and my surroundings."_

" _Thank you for your answer."_ the journalist sat.

" _If this is the case, how do you plan on addressing this? Are you going to acquire all the footage from all the homes?"_ Another spoke up.

" _No we will not. Instead, we plan to watch guilds as they usually have a large amount people in the place and the same time."_ The chief replied. _"However, we do think that we could learn what went wrong as to why players are unable to log out through their conversations."_

" _Thank you for your answer."_

The teams present in Kise's house sighed a relief. So it wasn't happening to their ace only. It would have been mortifying to see police swarming the house everyday.

Soon, Ryouhei arrived home and greeted the group. While he was familiar with Kaijou and the Miracles (even though it's been a while since he last met them), he's never met Seirin so close before. However, he trusted his son's friends and thought that there was nothing he should worry about.

As such, Kasamatsu informed the older Kise of what was happening and the poor man blanched. He was somewhat glad that he'll see that his precious ball of sunshine is fine, but he was still torn that he's trapped in a game.

"Don't worry Kise-san," Kasamatsu started, "Your son will be fine."

"Yeah, after all, he started a guild so he has other people to do his dirty work." Aomine mumbled.

Ryouhei's eyebrows rose. "I don't know much about games, so what's this about "doing his dirty work"? I can't believe that my sunshine has such a deplorable character hiding from me."

The group laughed at the man's face. He reminded them of Kise right there, and suspected that their friend got his traits from him. After all, Ryouhei was like an older version of Kise with green eyes.

As time went by, the group headed to their respective homes, promising each other that they'll come back to watch the blond, Kaijou staying over at Kasamatsu's because he lives the nearest to Kise.

However, none of the group felt like they could sleep peacefully knowing that Kise is in such a predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	4. Into the Silk Cavern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tank ― player whose job is to take large amount of damage from the monsters while party members attack
> 
> DPS ― Damage Per Second. Refers to the actual damage a character or weapon can deal per second. Also can be referred to classes with high damage such Assassins.
> 
> Cool down ― the minimum length of time a player or monster (boss) needs to wait after using a skill before able to use it again.

Chapter 4

…

The next day, Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles headed back to Kise's house, bright and early in the morning. They didn't want to miss the blond's progress, not a single detail. Still, it was a relief to see the blond fine, but they hoped that they would be able to pick out something that may be useful in getting the players out. Although they knew that the police were watching, there were possibilities that the authorities could miss something.

By the time it was mid-morning, everyone had completely assembled in Kise's room, including the boy's father. Seirin and the Miracles were a bit stiff around him unlike Kaijou who behaved natural.

Soon the game appeared and everyone's eyes were glued to the monitors.

_Kise slept soundly in his bed, occasionally shuffling here and there. His room was rather normal ―a bed in the middle, a desk and chair to the corner and a bedside table with what seemed to be a lamp rested on the top. Then, he sat upright and yawned as he stretched. His hair was a mess, his eyes drooped indicating that he was still a bit sleepy. Lazily, he got up and headed to his shower and started to strip._

"Oi! Don't look at my son stripping! You lechers!" Ryouhei screeched frantically and grabbed a sheet to throw it over the monitors. "You're invading his privacy!"

"Ki-Ki-Kise-san! We don't want to see _that_!" Moriyama said quickly to save their hides. "After all, Kise is a male, not a beautiful young woman!"

"Nor does he have big breasts like Satsuki." Aomine joined in with a drawl.

With an intimidating gaze, Ryouhei removed the sheets, and sat back in his chair and continued to watch. "If I so spot any of you with lecherous gazes, I'll gouge out your eyes." he snapped.

Seirin shivered at what the man just said. It was too close to home, especially when they faced Rakuzan in the Winter Cup. Still, they got an idea of how loved the blond boy was. For his father to be threatening to gouge their eyes out, must mean that they had a strong familial bond.

_Kise was now brushing his teeth, the lower half of his body wrapped in a white towel. Soon, he was done and exited the bathroom to get dressed. However, he only put on his pants and boots, and strapped on his katanas to his hip. The rest of his clothes were sprawled out on his bed. He sauntered his way across the room to a desk and chair and pulled out a paper from one of the drawers and started to scribble using a feather and ink._

" _Man, I should let someone create pens here," Kise murmured. "This is annoying."_

"What's he writing?" Riko mumbled, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "This game nearly made us see the boy naked but it won't let us see what he's writing? How stupid."

The others nodded in agreement and refocused to the scenes.

_As time went by, the sun peeked through Kise's window, signalling the start of a brand new day in this world. There were loud clatters, footsteps, chatter which told the blond that people were starting to wake up. There was a part of him that was excited, but when he looked at the paper before him, he let out a whine._

_Getting up, Kise headed over to his bed and finished getting dressed. Exiting his room, he saw players leisurely walking about, some were coming from the showers while the rest queued up. The females were the ones who showered first, and given that there weren't much, after the first batch all that were left were the males._

_Kise smiled and hummed to himself, glad that he decided to build the bathroom as he did. There were two separate rooms, one had seven shower stalls and the other had seven bathroom stalls._

_Navigating his way downstairs, Kise relaxed in the social area until everyone arrived. But although he tried to relax, upstairs was quite noisy. He wondered what they were doing, as there were hurried shuffling, loud clattering and such. But, he decided to ignore. As long as they weren't being attacked, he figured that he shouldn't care._

_Later, everyone assembled in the social area, Kise chatted with everyone present. It was his nature, chatting with those who seemed sociable. But then again, he remembered the look of fear within everyone's eyes when he took down the three players the other day. Because of that, Kise thought that maybe he needed change their opinions about him._

" _Do you think I'm scary?" Kise asked King Aiza._

_The Swashbuckler choked on his spit. "Are you serious?" he asked. "You're hella scary! Almost like some dungeon boss or something."_

_Kise blanched. "Dungeon boss? I'm not that scary!"_

" _Then explain how you took down those three guys who pissed you off in such a merciless manner? Plus that aura that seeped out of you when you were done." King Aiza shivered. "If that's not scary, then I don't know what is."_

_Kise paused. "I just have violent reflexes! And I was...I was..."_

" _Violent is right," Another joined in. He was an Archer, with the name "His Majesty: The King", however, given how everyone has their faces and bodies from the real world, he told Kise to use his given name which was Tomohito. "I won't forget those slashes the Knight received. Like, I swore you were going to turn him into mince-meat."_

" _Well..." Kise started but couldn't finished. It was his intention but he didn't know what would have happened if they died, although they still ended up as such after his "Holy Reprisal"._

Back in his room, Ryouhei and the teams were roaring with laughter. While Ryouhei never saw Kise's fight, the others did. And looking at the blond's wounded expression, it was refreshing for Kaijou.

"He looks like when he's kicked by Kasamatsu for being stupid!" Nakamura howled out. The rest of Kaijou were bursting with laughter. The Miracles found this amusing as well, but were relieved to see Kise being his usual self. Refocusing on the monitors, they saw Gold Digger standing on a table, seeming to be making an announcement.

" _Alright! It's breakfast time! What do you want?!"_

" _Just cook!" everyone screeched at him. Kise roared with laughter, reminding him of the earlier days._

_xx_

Breakfast turned out to be fun, but mostly, the players were stunned that they were eating food from the real world, with such deliciousness no less. At the same time, Kise found out that there were some seriously heavy eaters present. He made a mental note to work them to death, as they seem to be eating for the entire guild or something (of course that was an exaggeration). When Kise was done, he stood on a table like Gold Digger and started to speak,

"Alright, now that everyone has been fed, let's get down to business." The players gave their undivided attention to Kise, not only because he was the Guild Leader, but some were envying him for his good looks. "I started this Guild because I wanted to make money." Kise wasn't beating around the bush, plus, he had things to do so he had to hurry. "As you all saw prior, you were able to eat curry. For those who are Chefs, you're well aware that the dish isn't a part of the game commands, right?"

"Now that you mention it, that's right." One player gave out. Chatter rose up but Kise quickly silenced them.

"We have discovered that the Artisan classes are able to produce things separate on a part from those in the game commands. If given the appropriate raw materials, then you know what that means, right?" Kise smirked evilly here.

"We'll be able to make different things!"

"And with that comes…?"

"Money!" they cheered out.

Kise couldn't contain himself. And as such, he made a splendid laugh. "I love how you catch on quick." Runic Night and co. were rubbing their hands in delight, as it seemed that the players were all for it.

Kise continued, "However, we're not all about making money. I'm well aware that there are players from the Fighter and Healer classes like myself. And as such, everyone level 20 and below stand on my left."

Hearing that command, the players shuffled about, and Kise nearly let out a groan when he saw the amount of players that moved. He felt a headache coming on, and he hadn't even begun what he intended for the day.

"Alright, form parties of four, one healer should be present. If not, there's no need to worry, I'll substitute."

"We're going to be levelling up, right?" The Archer ―Tomohito asked.

Kise nodded. "As you can tell, this is a lawless world, there are savage players out there who prey on those weaker than them for all sorts of sick reasons. But given our situation, player kills may be the cause of frustration and other violent emotions. So, I'll at least want you all to be able to defend yourselves. Who knows? You may encounter players of a higher level than you are, but I'd like if you reach a level where you can wear down your opponent and use an opportunity to flee."

"And God knows what happens to a player when they die." Spring Breeze added.

"So are you all fine with that?" Kise asked. No one objected. What the blond said had made sense, and deep down, they were glad that he was so considerate of them. Just then, Kise perked up again, "So, where are my Artisan classes? Stand on my right."

A good amount of players moved to the right, while some who were already standing on the left raised their hands to indicate that they had an Artisan subclass. When everything was settled, Kise then said:

"Okay, Alchemists, your leader is Silver, and I want you guys to get creative. Make things that will be of use to the Guild both physically and financially. And also, don't be afraid to make chemicals from the real world as well. Silver will guide those who can't right?"

"Of course." the man grinned. He was glad that he was getting the chance to let loose, as back in the real world, there were rules regarding experiments. Who knows? Maybe they'll be able to create something phenomenal while in the game. There were about four Alchemists present, with one being a player in the Fighter class group.

"Chefs...You'll choose your leader. I don't care how you'll do it, be it the person with the highest level or the one who's oldest. The leader is temporary until you're all familiar with each other anyway." Kise said. "You'll be cooking and baking, and of course, you'll be making money. When the players of this town realize that they can get good food and snacks and whatever, believe me, we'll be rich. So feel free to let loose in the kitchens, but don't poison us off."

The Chefs, six in all, cheered at the sound of the word "rich". Human beings liked to eat, and when the food is good, they'll continue to eat and spend their money. Luckily for Kise, the only Chef that's apart of the Fighter Class group is Gold Digger.

"Weaponsmiths, feel free elect one for the time being. Just like the others, we'll get you the raw materials, and you make useful weapons that aren't already in the game and feel free to do some cool upgrades." Kise continued, "Craftsmen, choose your leader, and unlike the other guys, I think you'll be working with the other classes, like Alchemists may want some petri dishes, goggles and test tubes, the Chefs may want some bento boxes to sell food "on the go" but as I keep saying, feel free to get creative." Kise smiled, dropping his million-dollar grin that can put the sun to shame.

The players all let out cheers and screams, simply because they were having free reign to do what they want as long they made money at the end of the day. Also, Kise seemed like a nice Guild Leader, and as long as he's not pissed, he's quite approachable.

"Any questions?" Kise asked, he just loved how happy they were.

"Yeah," one player rose her hand. She was an Assassin. "Why are you bent on making money?" she asked but quickly said, "I'm not against it, just curious."

Kise smiled. "One ―to feed you all. I'm sure you don't run on air. Two ―to get supplies for the Artisan classes to make money. Three ―Bribery. In this world, there may come a time or many times, when we'll need to bribe our asses out of deep shit. As the saying goes, "money talks, bullshit walks". I'm sure it can be applied here as well. Four ―in case we'll need to remodel or something." he then mumbled, "I'm not spending 1.5 million gold coins again." he continued, "Five ―we're all trapped here. I'm sure you'll need a reason to live so to speak. Grinding and going to dungeons all day long will eventually get monotonous. You'll need something to look forward to, to keep you all busy."

The players gawked at Kise in awe and shock. The reasons were legitimate, but they never expected him to come out with "bribery" as well. This was a game world, and many of them were realizing that they had been talking their situation far too lightly.

"Is that it?" Kise asked once again. For the first time, his mouth was tired from all the talking. Since no one had any more questions for the time being, Kise sent off the Artisan players to choose their rooms and start planning on what they were going to do. However, in that time, he, Gold Digger, Spring Breeze and Runic Night, took some of the Fighter and Healer class players and headed to dungeons for some levelling. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger took the Archer and Mage class (with a couple Melee classes) while Kise and Runic Night took the remainder, which consisted of mostly Melee and Healer classes.

The other players who had reasonable levels were left to do what they wanted, until their time for levelling came around.

The groups had split up and headed to two different dungeons, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger's group went to "Munabu Graveyard" which was a level 27 dungeon, armed with Holy Grenades and Water courtesy of Runic Night. Kise and Runic Night's group went to the "Silk Cavern" which was a level 24 dungeon, as the people in his group ranged from a low of level 10 to a high of level 16.

"Umm, couldn't we have gone to a lower levelled dungeon?" A member of the group asked. He was a Swordsman, who wore a coloured shirt with dark pants tucked into black knee high boots. Unlike Kise, he had only one Katana, which was tucked away at his hip. Kise remembered his name ―"Bronze Legend" and also remembered that he was the only level 10 member in the guild. It wasn't that bad, given that he started playing the game a month ago.

"You'll be just fine." Kise said with a smile. "It's not like you'll die under my watch."

"Plus, this dungeon is pretty good for players with your levels." Runic Night joined in. "If you gain enough experience and skill, we can move on from this dungeon unto the next."

"Eh? Why?" Bronze Legend asked. "I'm just at level 10!"

Kise smirked. "By the time we're done with you..." he intentionally trailed off to let the boy's mind wander. "But also, we can't come to this dungeon forever. Rune and I are almost at the entry limit."

"Oh."

Before they entered the dungeon, they further split into smaller groups, as with such a large group it in such a small space, it would be difficult to keep track of everyone. Runic Night took charge of one group ―two Warriors, a Bishop, an Assassin and a Swashbuckler while Kise took the others ―a Bishop, a Swordsman, two Summoners, and a Knight.

Kise's grouped entered the dungeon first, and the players (minus Kise) looked at the scenery in fear. They entered a dark cave with spider webs strewn here and there. Embedded in the walls were skulls and lying below on the ground were the rest of the skeletal remains. Add to that, the eerie music wasn't helping either.

"So, what's the formation?" Kise asked. He was at the back of the group, with a Bishop beside him.

"Eh?" they all gave out.

Kise face palmed and sighed. "I'm pretty sure that you're all familiar with the "Holy Trinity" of RPG right?" They nodded. "Good. There are six of us here, someone, besides me, should work out a formation that won't have us all dead by the time we encounter a monster."

"Well, I'll do it." One of the Summoners said, walking up to Kise. The Summoner was a tall youth with what seemed to be dyed red hair with black ends and dark eyes. He wore a closed cloak and carried an awkwardly shaped staff. His in-game name was "Venom Assault" but his given name was Kakeru. "I think that Bishop and Raiden should remain in the back, Knight should be our tank, and we ―the two Summoners and Swordsman should be the DPS."

"My name is Azuma." Bishop snapped. He had curly black hair and black eyes.

"And I'm Junsaku." the Knight replied. He had spiked brown hair and green eyes.

"Itsuya." the other Summoner piped in. He was a bleached blond with brown eyes.

"Akiteru." Bronze Legend said.

"Kakeru."

Kise clapped his hands together to get back their attention to the matter at hand. "It's great that you now know each other's names, but remember that we don't have all day."

"Hai!"

The group headed further into the cavern, shivering as they did so. There was a gloomy aura about the place, and if Kise hadn't been present, they had seriously thought about turning back. Just as they rounded a corner, Itsuya's eyes caught a shadow moving along the walls.

"Guys..." he started, but trailed off as a massive spider pounced on them. Due to them scattering quickly, it missed its target and landed on the cavern floor. Rocks jutted upwards as it formed a crater, the players having an idea of its strength.

The spider scanned around for the players but luckily, they were out of its area of attack.

"Junsaku! Aggro!" Kakeru shouted. "Azuma get into a preferred position, Itsuya, Akiteru come with me. We'll be attacking."

The players dashed off, Itsuya and Kakeru summoning their numerous familiars to attack the spider creature, while Junsaku had already run on to tank. The Knight had successfully grabbed its attention and was now facing the creature. Azuma stayed somewhat hidden, and continuously healed Junsaku since he was taking all the damage.

Itsuya had about five water summons around him, all spraying the spider with their magic. Kakeru and Bronze Legend had used that opportunity and rushed up, brandishing their weapons ―a rapier and a katana respectively. Reaching up close to it, the two madly slashed at the spider. Kakeru had a Swashbuckler subclass.

Their strikes landed in rapid succession, and on their final blow, the spider was sent flying away from them, landing on his back before disappearing into pixelated fragments.

"We did it!" they cheered in glee.

Kise made a face and ruined their moment, "Well, it was just one spider and it's level wasn't all that frightening. Let's go."

The players looked at him and thought, _You have no say in this!_

They continued on, navigating their way through the dungeon. The deeper they went, the more spiders appeared, and ultimately, they had even forgotten that Kise was there. The blond was glad for that, so that he could watch how they operated together. Azuma had never done so much healing and buffing before, Junsaku felt like he was a punching bag, Itsuya conjured as much familiars as he could, Kakeru and Bronze Legend hacking and slashing away like idiots.

At long last, they had reached into a large room, where the boss was. However, since they hadn't yet run this dungeon, they didn't know that. And Kise wasn't going to tell them. Soon, about eighty spiders crawled out, sending disgusted shivers down their spines. Kakeru looked at Junsaku and he knew that there was no way he'd be able to aggro all those spiders.

"Azuma, stay out of their area of attack." he then said to the Bishop. Azuma nodded. Kakeru then turned to Itsuya, "Stay close to Azuma but send out your familiars to aid us."

"Roger that." the Summoner smirked.

"Junsaku, you and I will get aggro as much spiders as we can. If you feel they're too much, run in my direction and we'll fight them off together." Junsaku nodded his understanding. "Akiteru, you'll back us up, kill all the excess spiders that come out of our way."

"Hai!"

Hearing their plans, Kise let out a sigh and stopped them. "You can't do that."

"Huh? Why?"

"Do you even know what kind of spider they are?" Kise asked with folded arms. "The first thing you should do is scout them out. Itsuya, why haven't you mentioned that you have a Mage subclass?"

"Oh." he said sheepishly. "I was caught up and forgot."

Kise wanted to laugh but he kept his straight face. "Hears what you'll do," he began, "Itsuya, you'll get the aggro by using your magic or your familiars on them. However, stay at a reasonable distance. Akiteru, you'll provide back up to prevent any stray attack from reaching him." he then looked to Kakeru, "Have your familiars on stand-by, ready to help Itsuya and Akiteru with a speedy escape."

"Yes Sir."

"With Itsuya blasting them with magic, you'll be able to see what type of spiders they are. As such, Itsuya you'll return, and I'll leave to rest to Kakeru."

"Yes Sir!" they chorused.

And following Kise's orders, Itsuya used his magic to provoke the spiders. About four spiders rushed up and spat out webs, while Itsuya managed to block some, Bronze Legend sliced through the rest. The webs came in a barrage, but they soon met something else. The spiders on the far end, spat out something dark in colour, but sadly for Bronze Legend, he didn't see it coming. It caught him on his arms, and his body was slowing down. His HP was rapidly draining, and Kise sat back and watched. He then looked to Azuma and wondered what the boy was doing.

Luckily, Azuma came to his senses and recovered Bronze Legend's stats, buffed him while he was at it. Seeing that there were only web shooting and poisonous spiders, Kakeru had the two retreat out of the zone.

"Okay, so Itsuya, you'll be using your magic and familiars to attack the spiders from a distance. If you can pinpoint the poisonous ones then that'll be great."

"I think they have a green-ish colour in their eyes." he said, tapping his chin.

"Alright, then you'll target the poison ones. Akiteru, and I will be taking the others, Junsaku, can your shield withstand the poison?"

"I suppose."

"Good, then you'll aggro the poison ones, so that Itsuya can have a good shot."

"Right."

Kakeru then looked to Azuma, "Keep us healthy."

The Bishop nodded. With that, they dashed off once again, Kise drifting beside Azuma. The two healers watched the fight with focused eyes, Kise looked over at where Bronze Legend was. He was doing a good job in defending himself against the spiders, but occasionally, he got caught within their webs.

Kakeru was a bit better, he wielded his rapier with skill. Along with that, he summoned his familiars to use a sort of shield against the spiders, while he continues to hack away.

Kise's eyes then wandered to Junsaku and Itsuya, and a smile graced his face. They were actually eliminating the spiders in a much more efficient way ―Junsaku carefully aggroed the spiders with the green eyes and then using crowd control, he rounded them up in one spot, enabling Itsuya to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Beside Kise, Azuma healed and buff where needed, but apart from that, he didn't do anything else. Kise shook his head and made a mental note.

After some minutes, the spiders were cleared out, and the party heaved a sigh of relief. Kise laughed at their naïvety and said,

"Look ahead of you."

In that moment, they heard a threatening hiss, scurrying and scraping sounds of something crawling on the rocks. The players got an ominous feeling, and huddled together in fright.

The System then announced, « _You have entered the Web of The Poisonous Silk Spinner._ _»_

Just then, the wall before them crumbled and out came a gigantic spider. Unlike the other spiders which were black in colour, this spider had a lighter colour, seeming like mauve. Its eyes were a deep purple, and immediately the players had a sinking feeling about this one.

"O-okay guys, let's do this." Kakeru began. Once again, Kise sat on a rock and looked at them in pity.

"Couldn't we all attack that thing?" Junsaku asked. "Like, me, Akiteru and Kakeru will head to it, while Itsuya could use his magic and familiars to wear it down or find a weakness."

"I agree. That could work." Itsuya said. "Any other ideas?"

The others shook their heads. Kise let out a sigh and shook his head, _they never learn._

And as such, the three boys charged head on to the Boss, with Itsuya lagging behind and prepared to cast his magic and summon his familiars. However, in that instant, a dense green cloud shot out from the direction of the spider towards the players. But because they were so close to the creature, Kakeru, Junsaku, and Bronze Legend got hit squarely, Itsuya managed to escape before it got fatal for him.

Still, the moment he stepped backwards, webs shot up and out of the ground wrapping themselves around him, hanging him from the ceiling.

Azuma paled.

He looked across to his poisoned teammates to Itsuya who was dangling from the ceiling. He didn't know who to heal, and he was starting to panic. He didn't want them to die since no one knows what happens if they should die.

Seeing how flustered Azuma was getting, Kise decided to take action. Using "Aura of the Swift" he darted across the floor and avoided the webs that threatened to have him hanging like Itsuya. Reaching directly below the Summoner, Kise buffed his legs and jumped upwards. With a twist, Kise cut him loose and recovered his stats.

Landing in a crack on the wall, Kise swung his hands outwards to heal the three who were lying on the floor in the midst of the poison cloud.

"Itsuya, can you use wind magic?" he asked.

"Yes,"

"Blow away that mist." he said as he jumped down from their hiding place. "Azuma! As soon as the mist clears up, recover!"

The Spider's attention was set on Kise, but the blond was unperturbed. Threads of silk rushed at the Cleric, but using the skill "Tornado Strike", Kise held his katanas inversely and spun around so fast that he seemed to be reminiscent of a tornado. The Silk threads coming towards him didn't stand a chance, and were cut before they could take effect.

Reaching onto the spider's back, Kise stabbed his katanas into the spider and sprinted along its hide all the while dragging his weapons. The creature hissed and shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly about as its back was being ripped open.

By this time, Bronze Legend, Junsaku and Kakeru were already recovered by Azuma and had moved out of the line of fire. Itsuya had reunited with the group and watched Kise with awe.

Stabbing, slashing, cutting, slicing...Kise was absolutely merciless and the players were glad that they weren't on his bad side.

"Is he a butcher?" Kakeru asked in shock. "He's a butcher isn't he?!"

The others nodded in agreement.

"What I want to know is his weapon level. Like, look at that massive freak of a boss! When I attacked it with my rapier, it didn't even tremble! But Raiden is able to slice it open with ease!"

Then, a leg flew in their direction and they had to scatter. The Silk Spinner's leg was chopped off by Kise and he didn't even care that it nearly hit his recruits. The Spider awkwardly scurried along the wall to escape Kise, but the blond chased after it without hitch. Raising its head, it spit out a thick fog, aimed at Kise but the blond had already slipped away, ending up behind the creature. He sheathed his katanas, opened up his grimoire and pulled out his sceptre.

With a devastating swing, a blast of Holy Energy emerged out of the orb on the sceptre, and sent the spider flying all the way to the other side of the cavern. It fell onto its broken back squirming until it stopped and disappeared into pixelated fragments.

"Well, you failed at the boss miserably." Kise sighed as he placed his sceptre into the grimoire. He walked over to the gawking players. "Let's get out of this dungeon after we claim our loot."

Upon exiting, Runic Night's group entered, leaving Kise to discuss with his group.

"First, Azuma." Kise said, the Bishop stiffened. "You know, you don't need to be limited to only healing and buffing."

"What? But that's what Bishops do!"

Kise laughed. "You could aid your party members in other ways. When fighting a boss, you could watch its cool down time, and relay this information. Or you could notice that one member struck somewhere on its body and it shook, while another member struck elsewhere and it didn't even budge. That way, you could come to two conjectures, either one spot is its weakness, or it is weak to a certain class or attack."

"That's right..." Azuma said in realization. "I never thought about that."

Kise then looked to Junsaku, "You need a subclass. Being a Knight has its perks, strong defence and such, but against certain enemies, you're a sitting duck. So either you get a subclass like a Mage or Summoner which enables you to cast defence fields or long ranged attacks."

The Knight nodded.

"You..." Kise started, looking at Bronze Legend. "...are not bad. You need to level up more though. And like Junsaku, hurry and get a subclass."

"Hai!"

"Itsuya, get a grip. You're a Summoner with a Mage subclass. That's a pretty good combination you have. But you're wasting it. Put your familiars to good use, like getting aggro and scouting. You have wind magic too, use it blow away debuffs and displace monsters. Knock-ups will be good for monsters whose weaknesses are their underbellies."

"Yes Sir."

"Kakeru. Nice try with making a formation. You're not too bad when fighting but you're still unpolished. Like Itsuya, put your familiars to good use and not just as a meat shield."

"Right."

"But, throughout the dungeon you all did pretty well. I'm proud of you."

"Yay!"

"However..." his voice destroyed their mood completely. "Next time, share your skills, equipment and subclass with each other before tackling a dungeon. That way, you won't be so lost."

The five players let out a sigh. They felt like they were being scolded or something.

...

When the groups returned to the guild, Kise noticed the Artisan classes were still in discussion with each other. As such, he took the time to stop by each of them. The first group he talked with were the Alchemists, since they had occupied the second room on the hallway.

"Ah, hello," Kise greeted as he opened the door. He didn't even knock.

"Hello." everyone greeted.

Kise strode in and headed towards the group with his opened grimoire which a paper rested on. In his hand was a feather and ink, used to write.

"Do you guys have a minute?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," they nodded.

"What are the equipment that you need?"

Silver tapped his chin. "Well, Alchemists are chemists, so ―"

Kise gasped in shock, "You actually use test tubes and petri dishes?!" Earlier on, he had been joking. The others in the room roared with laughter at Kise's ignorance. The blond was not amused.

"Well," Kise huffed, "Excuse me for being a Cleric with a Swordsman subclass."

"Okay, okay," Silver said to ease the laughter. He turned to Kise, "No, we don't use petri dishes or test tubes. Let me write them down because I'd have to spell them out anyway."

The others gathered around them and pitched in as well, when everything was done, Kise's face was laced with confusion, but he said nothing. After that, Kise left and headed to the next room where the Craftsmen were. He repeated the same process he did with the Alchemists, and like prior, they had all gathered around and held nothing back. They made a list of the things of they needed, both furniture wise and materials, and for once Kise wasn't so lost and confused like he was earlier.

He continued with this action, asking the players with Artisan classes about their equipment. At first, they were puzzled as to why he needed this information, but afterwards, they decided to leave it at that. There must be a reason, and after seeing him render three opponents the other day to nothing, no one wanted to get on Kise's bad side. Within a couple minutes, Kise had all the information he needed.

When he returned to his room, he looked at the paper and let out a sigh. He looked up at his clock and saw that they had some time to spare before evening. Too lazy to get up, he sent a message to Silver, Thunder of the Meek (Craftsmen Leader), Bluemane (Chef Leader), Yahiko (Leader of the Weaponsmiths).

Within a minute they were all assembled in his room, and he began,

"We're going shopping." he said as he held up their lists.

…

When Kise and the others left, the rest of the players were confused as to where they were going but didn't question it. This gave birth to a questions and answer session, Runic Night, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger being the ones to answer (when they could).

"How did you meet Raiden?" Tomohito asked.

"He's a usual customer of mine." Runic Night said with a smirk. "Not for upgrades, but for weapons like Holy Grenades and such."

"We met him because of Rune. We needed a Healer to do some levelling, and we had entered Rune's shop and asked him if he knew anyone who would be willing." Spring Breeze said with a shrug.

"Is he nice?" one Archer asked. "He seems like it, but I wonder if he's putting up a show."

"Don't worry, he's pretty cool. He's loud, exuberant, whiny, annoying, and has his dimwitty moments, but he's really a nice guy. You'll get to know what I'm talking about sooner or later."

"Whiny?"

"Annoying?"

"Dimwitty?"

" _That murderous Cleric?!_ " They screeched in shock. Hearing that their Guild Leader has this side to him was beyond shocking. Given how he was when he took down those who pissed him off, he seemed to be the type that was ruthless.

"Yes, that very same Cleric." Runic Night nodded with all-knowing smile. "He's only like that when he's pissed off or really into something. Apart from that, he's pretty harmless."

" _Harmless?!_ " Came the next screech. " _Liar!_ "

"You guys should have seen him in the dungeon today!" Bronze Legend screeched. "He butchered the Spider boss!"

"Wait, you mean the Silk Spinner?!" another player asked. Bronze Legend nodded. "You know, it took everyone to even to crack open the back of that massive beast! Raiden took it down, by _himself_?"

"Yes he did." Azuma said. "Everyone else had gotten trapped and I was useless. So he went in to save them and slayed."

"Oh shit."

Runic Night chuckled at their expressions, but he really wasn't lying. He's known "Raiden" for months and he's seen what he's like in a dungeon or on a raid, he's seen how he behaves otherwise. But, he's decided to let them experience Kise's harmless ways for themselves. He laughed on the inside. They might even attempt to kill him when they find out how irritating he can be. He almost did, many times.

"And he has a tendency for looting, setting records and raiding." Gold Digger added. "That's how we set the record at Munabu Graveyard dungeon."

"Eh?! You guys are "Demolition Regiment"?!"

"Yes we are," Spring Breeze said, rubbing his ears. "And could you guys stop the screeching? It's deafening."

"So, is he single?" a female Swordsman asked. Everyone's eyebrows rose. While she was pretty, her attire made her look extremely deadly. Her in-game name was "Awesome Singularity". "What?" she asked.

Spring Breeze and Gold Digger looked to Runic Night for an answer since he was the only one who knew Kise the longest.

"I...uh," he began. "I don't know, probably." he then shrugged. "He's always talking about his team and his cute "Kurokocchi". Maybe she's his girlfriend."

"I wonder what this "Kurokocchi" looks like. She must be pretty." Gold Digger said.

"Kurokocchi? What the hell?" Spring Breeze asked in confusion.

"He has a tendency to add -cchi to people's name." Runic Night shuddered in disgust. "He's called me "Runecchi" many times. Of course, I butchered his ass for it."

"Oh." they all came out with.

"Damn, why is it that all good-looking guys are taken?" Awesome Singularity mumbled.

They continued their chatter, spanning different topics. They left off Kise's private life and his personality and talked about other things to get to know each other better. Before they realized, time passed and Kise along with the other leaders entered.

Seeing the joyous mood, Kise asked, "What's going on here?"

"We're just casually chatting, that's all." Spring Breeze grinned. "By the way, do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, I don't." Kise deadpanned. _I wish,_ he thought.

Awesome Singularity perked up. "And you don't have anyone you like?!"

"No I don't." he repeated. _I wish someone would come my way, though._

"Then who is your "cute Kurokocchi"?!" Runic Night asked. "Who is she?"

Kise laughed out loud. "Kurokocchi is a male! He was my teammate back in middle school and mentor! You dogs! You thought Kurokocchi was my girlfriend?!" Kise couldn't contain himself. He roared with laughter and clutched his abdomen along with it.

"Then, why do you say he's cute?!"

"Because he is. He's baby-faced. If I had my phone I'd show you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, call me when dinner's ready!" Kise chirped and skipped off upstairs.

...

After dinner and more planning by the Artisan classes, everyone headed to bed.

Silver sat on his bed and looked through the window, Yahiko was lying on his bed, Runic Night, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger were chattering about the dungeon levelling they did earlier today with the new players. Silver's distant mood drifted over to everyone else, and soon the other four boys were looking at him in worry.

"Silver-san, is there anything..." Yahiko started, unable to finish his sentence.

"Oh, no." Silver said, waving his hand in dismissal. "I was just thinking on how everyone in this guild seemed alive."

"Alive?"

"On the first day when everyone found out that we were trapped here, I remember the faces of horror, despondency, sadness, you name it." he replied. "But now, Raiden-kun seemed to have turned this hopeless situation into something we can look forward to."

Yahiko rose up and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, to be honest, I was scared shitless when I saw that the log out button was gone. But when Seiya and Naoki came to me and told me Raiden schemes, I thought to myself "at least there's something to occupy my time". I don't know what I would've done. As a matter of fact, I would have never thought of using raw materials to make something not in the game commands."

"On that note, where did you guys go today?" Gold Digger asked.

"We went shopping." Yahiko replied. "He bought us stuff that we'll need. Although some of us can just what we have in our stores, its mostly for the other players who don't have anything."

"Oh."

Runic Night chuckled. "I wonder what he has in store for us tomorrow. I can't wait to start making more money though." he said as he rubbed his hands together.

"His light is still on. You could go ask him." Spring Breeze piped in. "He doesn't go to sleep early like the rest of us, you know?"

"Or if he does, he gets up earlier than everyone else. This morning when I was heading to the bathroom, I saw his light on and when I went to look, I saw him scribbling speedily." Gold Digger said.

Then a silence hung in the room. The four boys looked to each other before Runic Night said,

"And he argued about not wanting to be Guild Leader. He's doing such a good job."

"I know right. I doubt that I would've been able to do what he's doing. Or even think of half of things that he did." Spring Breeze nodded.

"Yeah, we know you're a terrible leader, Sei." Gold Digger snickered.

"Like you're any better, _Nao._ " Spring Breeze quipped.

"I hate to cut into your lovers' quarrel, but it's your bedtime." Silver said sternly. "I'm turning off the lights."

"Hai." they drawled out, with Spring Breeze and Gold Digger mumbling that they weren't having a lover's quarrel but a friendly dispute.

A couple minutes, the guild fell into silence, the players gone to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	5. Enter: Solo Trio

Chapter 5

…

On this particular morning, Kise got up as usual, and headed out. It was minutes after seven o'clock, but of course, being unsupervised and having nothing to look forward to, no one got up as early as they would in the real world. Well, except Kise. It had been ingrained in his bones to get up and jog, but this time, he wanted to get to the necessary people before the rush of the day started.

He walked down the street and hummed, hoping to distract himself from his worrisome thoughts. Everyday he checks if the log out button has returned or if the Game Master is responding, and so far, it remains the same. He decided not to mull over it, but there were many things that he was ignorant about. The main one being death. Before this happened, if a player died, they'd be revived at a Cathedral, but he wasn't so sure about _that_ now.

He rounded a corner and continued his journey, whining to himself about spending so much money.

"Shit, I'll need to go on a raid when this is over." he mumbled with a yawn. "Ah, I still feel sleepy." he yawned again. Going to a dungeon more than once was tiring, especially when he had to be looking out for the inexperienced players.

…

Some minutes later, one member had woken up and was making his way to the bathroom. He was Bluemane, the leader of the Chefs. However, after he was returning to his room, he heard shuffling and other heavy noises. He made his way to the stairs and headed down. Darting across the narrow hallway, he stumbled upon players (not those from the guild) and NPC carrying wooden boxes of varying sizes and furniture.

"Put them all in that room, and make it fit." Bluemane heard Kise say. Curiosity got the better of him, so he stepped out and headed to Kise.

"Ah, Bluemane-san, are you the only one up?" Kise asked.

"Yeah, for the time being." he replied with a shrug. "What are in those boxes?"

"Well, you're free to look after everything is in place." Kise yawned. Bluemane narrowed his eyes at him. He could still see the sleep on Kise's face, and nudged him in his sides. "Mou~ that hurts." he whined.

Bluemane laughed upon seeing his face. He now knew what Runic Night was talking about, and realized that Kise may not be so scary after all. With a small gesture, he headed up the stairs, leaving Kise to wonder what just happened. However, little did he know that Bluemane went into Silver's room and viciously woke him and Yahiko.

"Hmm? Is it an emergency?" Yahiko asked drowsily.

"Yes." Bluemane lied. Silver's eyebrows rose in confusion, but the two ended up following him out of their room without disturbing the others. Making their way back downstairs, Silver and Yahiko heard the heavy sounds, and looked to Bluemane.

"Don't worry, we're not under attack." he deadpanned.

"Actually, I wasn't thinking that." Silver said. "I wanted to know what the cause of this was."

"Raiden-kun." He replied. "Remember when we went shopping yesterday?" the two nodded. "Well, I think the goods are being delivered."

They soon reached where Kise was and saw that the blond was nodding off while standing. Yahiko walked over to him and threw Kise's hand over his shoulder, carried him back to his room. Although he hadn't known the blond for long, seeing him put so much effort into something is quite moving.

However, Yahiko noticed something on Kise's table. There were papers with contents in the blond's handwriting, and reading it, he didn't know whether or not to smile or laugh at the blond's ingenuity. Taking up the papers, he dashed back down the stairs to Silver and Bluemane. They had to see this.

"What do you think about this?" he asked as he shoved the paper to their faces. The players and NPCs had already left, since Kise had paid them beforehand.

"This is..." Bluemane said in awe and shock. "...I can't even find the right words to say."

"It means that Raiden-kun takes this seriously." Silver said with a nod. "I'm willing to try this out."

"Well, we are trapped within a game world for God knows how long." Yahiko started. "Raiden said it himself, he's giving us a purpose, a goal, something to look forward to."

Bluemane chuckled, his deep voice sounding like thunder. "Then I suggest we get started." he smiled. "He's doing so much for us, it's the least we can do for him."

"I'll go wake up the other Alchemists." Silver said, following behind Bluemane going up the stairs to the sleeping quarters. "And Yahiko-kun, you can wake up your Weaponsmiths."

Yahiko snorted. "Silver-san, I'm planning to wake up everyone. This kind of thing requires everyone. Raiden even wrote it down on the paper."

"That's right."

…

"Raiden. Raiden."

Kise opened his eyes to see Runic Night and Spring Breeze staring down at him. Groggily getting up, he asked, "It isn't anything devastating?"

The two boys grinned. "Of course not. This guild is going to be rich."

Kise yawned. "Well obviously. No one else has thought about what we did, so..." He then fell back on his bed, and turned his back to them. "If that's all, then scram! I need to sleep!" he yawned.

"Calm down, we want you to see something first." Spring Breeze grinned. "You'll be mind-blown."

Seeing the look on the two boys' faces, Kise gave in and followed them downstairs. Upon reaching the kitchens, a delicious aroma hit him squarely that he nearly lost his footing. Spring Breeze and Runic Night didn't miss this and nearly erupted with laughter. But the moment the trio entered through the swinging doors, Kise nearly went insane.

"We've got ramen, omelette rice, steam buns, pies, cakes and of course, curry." Bluemane said with a triumphant smirk, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. "Raiden-kun, I believe we are ready to make money."

Kise stood and gaped in shock. He was so stunned that he couldn't formulate a sentence. Taking deep breaths, he recovered quickly and asked, "I can understand with some things, but tell me, how are you able to create cakes and pies with icing and filling? How did you even create _icing_ and _filling_?"

"The Alchemists created some awesome stuff." Bluemane answered. "And Royal Cook, Zune and I were studying culinary arts in university." Kise's jaws dropped. He couldn't believe that Bluemane was older than him. He didn't look it.

"Add to that, this sheltered brat's family owns a couple restaurants here and there, so he's well-versed." Royal Cook said, ruffling Bluemane's curly black hair. He was tall with dyed green hair and dark eyes.

"I'm not a sheltered brat!" Bluemane countered. Kise smiled at them but he felt a little envy. As a matter of fact, he's been feeling a little envious of the players who're trapped in here with someone they know from the real world. Spring Breeze, Gold Digger and Yahiko are close friends, Silver is Runic Night's chemistry teacher, Kakeru's older sister is Thunder of the Meek and now these three.

 _I wished that someone was here with me too...Kasamatsu-senpai, Moriyama-senpai..._ He thought with a sigh. He then chuckled to himself for being so selfish, wanting a friend to be trapped within this catastrophe just to keep him company. _Jesus, I'm so awful…_

"Raiden," Spring Breeze said as he tapped him on his shoulders.

"Hmm?" Kise asked.

"Just to let you know, Yahiko is at fault." He started. Kise rose his eyebrows in confusion as he didn't know how Yahiko got into this. "Half of the combat classes are going out for some advertising."

Kise now realized what Spring Breeze meant earlier. "He read it."

"Yeah," Runic Night nodded. "Not only are you smart, you've got an ingenious brain there. Who would have thought that pretty boys were smart too?"

Kise didn't know how to reply to that. He was always like this, it's just that there was never a time when he needed show it when he was back in the real world. If his friends and teammates heard this, they'd probably be shocked.

"Well, have fun." Was all Kise could say. On that note, he headed to the other Artisan classes and was amazed at their progress and creativity. Now, with that done, he was currently bored. So, informing the players that were left at the guild, Kise headed out, hoping to gather information.

As he walked and entered the town square, he saw many players from other guilds trying to recruit members still, while there were many seen lying by the wayside. The blond deduced that no guild wanted these players so they're just left there to rot.

 _Poor things…_ he thought as he shook his head. He had no time to stop, as he better things to do. Maybe after his rounds he'll consider. But at this moment, he cursed himself for being a solo player, as he hardly has any in-game friends. Apart from Runic Night, he has seven others, but sadly, they were in another town.

Bringing up the menu screen, Kise decided to call those in his friends list (except Runic Night), hoping that they may have some helpful information. He walked to a deserted area and dialled.

" _Rai! You're here too! Oh I'm so glad!"_ a deep voice chirped in his head. He was Kise's other friend, "Amused Sharpshooter". He was an Archer with a Warrior subclass, but since his name is so long, Kise calls him "Sharp".

"Really? You're glad that I'm trapped in here like you too? How evil." Kise said teasingly. He realized that even though it is a cruel thing to wish that a friend was here, it was all within purpose. Most human beings don't like to be alone in an unfamiliar situation.

" _Of course! That way we can conquer fortresses! Take down bosses! And loot!"_ Amused Sharpshooter cooed in joy.

"Right..." Kise drawled. "...do you have any information?" he asked, cutting to the chase. "Like, what happens if we die and anything else that you know of that wasn't in the game?"

" _Hmm...I know that all portals and travel runes work like a charm as usual. A party got an all wipe in the forest near here and they all revived in the town's Cathedral, just like the game."_ he continued, _"But you'll find yourself in deep shit if you do die."_

"Why?"

" _You lose experience and de-level. If you were killed by another player, everything that you won't need after reviving turn into drops."_ Kise could hear the shiver in his voice. _"But thing is, how many levels you will lose I can't tell you. Someone who was at level 20 lost three levels, while two other party members who were both at level 30 ―one lost fifteen levels and the other lost only five."_

Kise cringed. He's quite familiar with games like that, in which with death comes a penalty, but this was brutal and worse, confusing. Two players were of the same level, yet one got their level halved and the other did not. Before this, when they died in the game, they didn't lose levels nor did their equipment turn into drops.

 _Is there a criteria which determines the amount of levels one loses?_ Kise pondered in thought. _But what happens if someone dies when they're at level 1? Does the penalty not take effect or something else happens?_

"Oh, I see. Anything else?" He then asked. He realized that mulling over this will get him nowhere.

" _Rai, you're so greedy today."_ Sharpshooter chuckled, but a second later his voice got serious. _"Hooligan and Shameless are here as well. For the others, it seems like they didn't log in at the time, so they aren't caught up in this."_

"I see. Where are those two now?" he then added, "Rune is here as well."

Amused Sharpshooter laughed. _"They're with me._ _Oh, Rune is there too. I can get some weapons then._ _Where are you?"_

"I'm in Joumei, that should be a no-brainer because that's where my house is." Kise sighed.

" _Right. Things are pretty nasty here in Murata, so we were heading over to where you are."_

"Oh, sure." Kise never inquired about the situation in the other town as it had nothing to do with him. As long as the trouble stays there, that is.

There was silence on the other end of the line before Sharpshooter spoke again, _"Hey, we were actually thinking of joining_ _a_ _guild. I mean, I know neither of us wanted that before, but ―"_

"Great! Join mine!" Kise perked. "If you refuse, I'll hunt you down and kill you and take all your equipment!"

" _Eh?! You made a guild!? YOU of all people?"_ He screeched in shock. But then, he calmed down, _"You found a way to make money without going to dungeons, haven't you?"_

"Ah, yeah."

" _You shitty money-grubber!"_ The Archer roared with laughter nearly deafening Kise for the second time. _"You're still the same!"_

"Well, it isn't like that. I'm pretty sure that you realize this."

Although Amused Sharpshooter was behaving as such, he knew Kise well enough. They've been through many dungeons and knows that whenever Kise is hankering for money, there's usually a reason behind it. Be it for upgrades, equipment, or to buy a house, there was always a reason.

" _Anyway, see you in a few. As soon as Hooligan and Shameless come back, we'll head over through the portal."_

"Yeah, I'll be waiting."

…

After conversing with Amused Sharpshooter, Kise headed to the Town Teleport Gate to await their arrival. There were a lot of recruiters here as well, and they all hounded for him to join their guild. Although Healers were regarded as weak, they were still indispensable to any party. But what stunned him the most were the posters here and there, asking about a Cleric named "Raiden". Guilds like "Banner Wolves", "Goldengarde" and "Robust Immortals" seemed to be head-hunting him, as they even planned to give out monetary rewards if someone had an idea where he was. He's worked with them before couple times.

"Thank God our avatars disappeared when we got trapped." Kise mumbled. "I honestly couldn't deal with this."

He took a seat on a bench nearby, and stared at the Gate. He didn't know what his three friends looked like now but at least their clothing remained the same. He sat there for a couple of minutes until he spotted an Archer, Sorcerer and a Swordsman.

As he was about to call, he heard a ring.

" _Rai! We've arrived!"_ It was Amused Sharpshooter.

"I'm on my way." Kise replied with a smile. "I'm blond now."

" _Ooohh...you already know our classes so just look for two males and a voluptuous chick ―ow!"_

Kise erupted with laughter as he had seen Amused Sharpshooter got hit in the sides by the female of the group. He trotted over but they saw him coming from a mile away.

"Oh! You're Raiden?!" the female of the group shouted in shock as she pointed. She had lush black hair done in a bun with two thick side bangs. Her eyes were dark as well, and she wore a white off-the-shoulder mermaid backless dress with a huge split on both sides of her dress. She wore white heeled thigh-high boots with gold accents that hugged her skin. She was one of the few friends that Kise has ― "Shameless Illusion".

She was a Sorcerer(ess) with an Alchemist subclass. But one thing stood out for Kise, was her chest. They were much larger than her avatar and the poor blond boy had to wonder if they were real.

Beside Shameless Illusion on her left was the Swordsman ―"Mysterious Hooligan". He was a tall young man, with shoulder length brown hair with bleached blond ends. He was dressed in an olive green shirt and dark coloured pants tucked into black High Forest boots with white twine lacing. He had an Assassin subclass and was Shameless' in-game husband.

On Shameless' right was Amused Sharpshooter. His entire outfit was exactly the same as Spring Breeze's except, his tunic was black instead of green. He had partly curly black hair and dark eyes.

"Yeah," Kise replied. "But are your breasts real?"

"You brat!" she shrieked as she kicked him into ground. "Of course they're real!"

"Stop! Stop!" he whined. The attack was so sudden that he couldn't dodge. "Guys! Save me!"

"Bro, you dug your own grave." Mysterious Hooligan shrugged. "Just let her bury you already."

When Shameless was satisfied, she ceased her attack on Kise. With a quick heal, Kise was back to normal and looked as though he wasn't kicked all over with a stiletto heel.

The quartet then moved off towards Kise's guild, but along the way, they teased him endlessly about it. He didn't mind, somewhat glad that he had a little laugh. Also, they encountered Gold Digger who had three players around him, saying that he's doing some recruiting. When Kise asked if he was the only one doing such, he responded in the positive, which was a relief.

The blond then informed him that keep it to a maximum of five, since if these recruits were homeless, they'd have to live at the guild (strangely like everyone else). However, when Kise and co. neared the guild, they saw a large crowd outside, shouting incoherent things.

"What's going on here?" Kise asked, pretending to be a curious passer-by.

"They have great tasting food, but they won't be open for business until tomorrow! I can't wait until then!" A mage screeched.

Kise nodded in satisfaction. One of his plans were to have the general populace sample their food which would lure them here. He knew it would have a great impact, but he didn't realize that they would attract an angry crowd.

 _Well, they say a hungry man is an angry man._ Kise joked.

"I demand to see your guild leader!" someone else shouted. "Where is the bastard?!"

"Hoh? Seems like someone wants your head." Mysterious Hooligan joked. Kise groaned. "But do tell me, what's this about "great tasting food"? Isn't in-game food equivalent to shit?"

Kise smirked, "It's a secret."

_xxxx_

Back in the real world, Kaijou heaved a relief when they had heard Kise's friend said that dying in the game doesn't equate to death in real life. But there was still something bothering them. So far there hasn't been any oppression going on, but hearing Amused Sharpshooter, it seems that it's a possibility for trouble to start stirring up in Kise's town as well.

Ryouhei wasn't present since he had gone to check up on Kise's body at the hospital. So, in his space was his wife ―Ritsuko, the Miracles and Seirin found her to be more group friendly. Ryouhei has his scary moments when it came onto Kise, but she was quite calm.

After the group had dinner and check the news channels for any new information, they resumed watching the blond model in the game.

_Kise sat in a chair at the top of a table, with Spring Breeze, Runic Night, Gold Digger on his left, while on his right were Silver, Amused Sharpshooter, Shameless Illusion and at the end was Mysterious Hooligan._

" _So you're coming from Murata?" Runic Night asked, "How long did it take you to get here?"_

" _The Gates still work like a charm, you know?" Shameless replied. "And travel runes too."_

" _That's great." Spring Breeze sighed in relief. "Here I thought that I'd have to learn how to ride a horse."_

_The room erupted into chuckles for a couple seconds before Kise asked, "Jokes aside, what was that you wanted to tell me?" He looked at his three friends._

" _We all know the Lore of the game, right?" Hooligan asked. It was a known fact that gamers liked to skip reading it, as it can be quite lengthy._

" _Most of it." Spring Breeze and Gold Digger replied._

" _Nope!" Runic Night denied proudly. Kise and Silver nodded._

"Wait, what is the Lore?" Izuki asked. "Is the box nearby?"

Kaijou shrugged, Ritsuko saying that she has no idea where Kise would keep that. But luckily, Kobori came to their aid.

"In short, a long time ago, a Cleric named Mitsuhide saved the world from twenty-one evil demons from the Dark World using twenty-one of the Major Arcana Cards. The other one ―The Fool was his personal card that he uses continuously on his journey." he explained. "But now, something happened and the Arcana are corrupted, slowly turning the land into a wasteland of some sorts. I can't explain everything because Kise told me this quite some time ago."

"Oh..." they all gave out.

"That may explain why Ryouta chose to be a Cleric, then." Akashi said. "Is it, Kasamatsu-san?"

Kasamatsu shook his head. "In every game that Kise plays, he always chooses a Healer as his main class and then a Combat subclass."

"I see."

" _So, you're telling me that the game is already in full swing? Without any of the players triggering it?" Gold Digger asked in shock. "How is that possible?"_

" _Like hell we know." Hooligan said. "But, hearing from an associate in Inoto, the evil or corruption or whatever is already started to spread, affecting everything except us players of course."_

" _Inoto?! Isn't that a city somewhere in the Hoseki Mountains?! The hell is your associate doing?" Runic Night gaped._

_Hooligan shrugged. "I don't know nor do I care."_

_Kise leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Even though I planned to try and beat this game after things have settled down, to think that this would have happened." After rubbing his temples, he then asked, "This a serious problem."_

" _It is." Silver nodded. "If I remember clearly, there are about twenty-one areas where the Arcana cards are, right? And if the Hoseki Mountains are already being affected, who knows how long that will take to spread to other areas and trigger the other Arcana."_

" _We've got a task ahead of us." Spring Breeze said, "Not only will we have to find these Arcana areas, we have to purify them from the corruption."_

" _That's where Rai comes in!" Sharpshooter perked. "He's a Cleric, he lives for healing and purifying."_

" _Guys, aren't we forgetting something?" Shameless said, "We need to get "The Fool" Arcana."_

" _And where the hell is that? I didn't see anything about getting that Arcana card." Gold Digger said. He then asked everyone else, and they all replied in the negative._

_Hooligan sighed. "My associate found something, which states that Mitsuhide carried around The Fool and it aided in saving the world. Apparently, it's within Mitsuhide's grimoire." he then added, "obviously you won't know about it if you hadn't gone to an NPC to trigger that quest."_

_Kise let out a groan upon hearing the word "grimoire". "Not again! Don't tell me we have to go on a side-quest to get that grimoire..."_

_Mysterious Hooligan nodded. "That's right. What's the matter? Aren't you up for the challenge?"_

_Kise glared at the young man. "I see someone forgot what I told them when we first met in-game." Kise spat. Hooligan stuck out his tongue playfully and scratched his head. Kise sighed. "I had to go on a perilous, "seems-like-final-boss" journey for my grimoire. Going through that again..." he trailed off, "...I'm not about that life."_

" _Really? Didn't that grimoire come with your class? You had to go look for it?" Silver asked._

_Kise nodded. "The grimoire was like a missing piece to my skill set. Getting it wasn't mandatory, I could have still been a Cleric without it, but I'm glad that I struggled and got it."_

" _How so?" Runic Night asked. "I've always been wondering why other Clerics are so weak and you can take down bosses by yourself."_

" _It's the grimoire. Without it, Clerics can only heal, buff and use Defensive magic. But, with the grimoire, Clerics are able to choose any subclass and incorporate Holy Attributes to their attacks. Also we're able to perform Holy Spells and debuffs and all the awesome stuff you see me do."_

" _Really!?" Everyone shrieked and rose to their feet in shock._

" _Now it makes sense!" Mysterious Hooligan shouted out. "Your "Heavenly Slash"! I've always wondered why it was different from mine!" he raked a hand through his hair and let out a chuckle. "You bastard...why didn't I choose Cleric as my main class?!"_

_Kise smirked. "You're the idiot. After reading the Lore, you could have always switched classes. Obviously, Mitsuhide wasn't some squishy good-for-healing Cleric. He had to have some badass in him."_

" _When I get out, I'm going to write to SuperSonic to express my anger! How could they have something so awesome and not tell anyone!" Gold Digger screeched, tears rolling down his eyes and he balled his hands into a fist at his chest._

" _As the saying goes, you missed a diamond while searching for stones." Kise grinned._

"I didn't think that Kise's character was _that_ powerful." Midorima said, stroking his lucky item ―a fluffy stuffed animal. "I wonder if he'll wield it well."

"Well, dying in the game means a loss of levels and equipment," Kuroko responded. "I doubt Kise-kun would want that."

The others nodded in agreement.

They continued to watch until Kise and colleagues discussed some more, before heading out and waiting until all the members were home. During this time, Kise let Mysterious Hooligan do all the talking since he was the one who received the information. Of course, the other players were surprised at this, and for the non-combat classes, they had gotten a little worried.

That was when Kise came in.

Being the Guild Leader that he was, he didn't reassure them, instead, he threw out the option of willing to complete the game or staying here and be bodyguards or something. What is more, he never asked for an immediate response, and even those who did give one, he harshly told them to think about it.

Add to that, Kise let Amused Sharpshooter share his information about in-game death and the penalties that may be incurred. Yet again, the guild members were getting worried, especially those of a lower level.

This time, Kise reassured them, saying that they'd be levelling up with the higher levelled players since he's "going to be busy".

After that, Kise met with the Artisan classes, to address what they'll be doing tomorrow. Everyone knows about the angry crowd earlier, but the Chefs were ready to face them all tomorrow. The Craftsmen were working surprisingly fast as well, so too the Alchemists with Silver's frightful guidance.

Seeing that there was nothing left to do, the members were left to do whatever they pleased, the lot decided to play some card games. These cards were made by the Craftsmen players, and were wooden with simple engravings on them since none of them were artistic in a sense that they could draw.

"Well, I think that's it for the day." Riko said. "They're all playing cards. I'm sure they won't be going to a dungeon or whatever."

Ritsuko got up and stretched, she was almost move to tears when she saw her son demonstrating such leadership skills and wished that Ryouhei was here to see him. The group followed her out but when they were about to leave, they heard a news report:

« _This is an update on the "Arcanum Incident"_ _»_ the news anchor began, « _Police investigations_ _have found what many families have been worried about. Players who die in the game do not die in reality._ _»_

At this moment, a video clip came on screen of a party consisting of an Archer, a Priest, a Thief and a Warrior tackling a huge monster out in the forest. They looked a bit worn out and exhausted, and after couple seconds of fighting, they were all killed. The scene then switched to the inside of the Cathedral, where it showed all the players getting revived one after the other.

To prove further what was happening was that there were audio present, hearing every word, every thought of the players. This somewhat relieved those who were watching who had friends and family members trapped, but for some it awakened a new worry:

What will happen to those who die at Level 1?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	6. Danger in Murata City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **PvP **:  
>  Player vs. Player. This is when two humans play against each other, instead of against the environment such as PvE.  
> […] thoughts the outside world can hear.****

Chapter 6

…

_**[Murata City]** _

Like Joumei, Murata was an Adventurer's City. Located some kilometres away from Joumei, a grand river and a vast expanse of forestry with pockets of NPC villages separates the two cities. Prior, this city was calm and peaceful, as players didn't have the time to linger, going on raids and conquering dungeons along with grinding and weapon upgrades took a lot of time, plus they had their lives in the real world to get back to.

But now that they're trapped here, Murata has become lawless, the Three Great Guilds ― "Crimson Legion", "Hummingshade" and "Warlords United" are entangled in a nasty power struggle. Since aggressive fighting is banned within cities and villages, guilds tend to fight each other within their guild halls, or resort to subtle bullying.

Due to this, many high levelled players were scouted and in many cases forcibly hauled to join either of the guilds. Some smaller and medium sized guilds were forced to disband, although, there were many players who kept hidden and out of the sights of these malicious guilds.

Walking through the city were King Aiza and Spring Breeze who had arrived here upon Kise's request. Two days ago, the Cleric had noticed that there were many players turning up in Joumei looking half-dead. Upon further investigation, the blond had found out that they were running away from Murata. Since Mysterious Hooligan, Shameless Illusion and Amused Sharpshooter were busy with errands, these two had volunteered when he threw out the offer.

The cobbled streets were deserted, only a few NPC stalls could be found following their programming strictly. It took them two days to arrive, and that was only because they used low grade travel runes. After rounding a corner, they stumbled upon a quarrel between two groups. Ducking behind a nearby stall, the two watched what was about to unfold.

"You were the ones who killed Bann weren't you!?" The sole Mercenary of the group on the left shouted angrily. "Just because he refused to join your stinking guild, you ganged up on him and killed him, didn't you?!"

"Don't be absurd! We can't even fight each other in the city, how the hell are we going to kill a player?!" The Archer of the group on the right retorted. "Get your damn facts straight!"

"You're the absurd ones! Bann was at level 40! You knew that if you killed him there's a possibility that when he revived he would have been at level 20!"

"Why are they bitching about a player kill?" Spring Breeze mumbled. "Sure, it sucks if our levels get shaved in half, but we'll still revive. What's the big deal?"

King Aiza shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe he had some super awesome equipment that got turned into drops when he died. After all, apparently, he was at Level 40."

While most players don't like player killing, the fact that one will revive is some sort of relief. That way, revenge is bound to happen. But judging by the players' actions and tone of voice, it didn't seem like a normal player kill.

"Are you deaf!? _We didn't do it_!"

"Then, _who_ _did_?! And why hasn't he come back yet?!" the Mage on the left roared. "Aren't players supposed to revive? He hasn't!"

"Well shit." The two spies gave out in shock. This was something that hasn't happened in Joumei. Every player that has died ever since this incident has revived safely. As a matter of fact, before Mysterious Hooligan and co. left Murata, they had seen where players died and came back.

"What's this scary new development?" King Aiza gasped. "I want to ask those players but I don't want to get mixed up in this shit."

"Me too." Spring Breeze agreed.

"I was the one who killed Bann."

Everyone in the vicinity heard a voice from above. Looking up, at first, they thought it was something from the game's system, but, after the light subsided, they saw an Elf with dark green hair and piercing red eyes. He wore dark demi-boots, and a straight cloak like Gold Digger's which hid his clothing underneath. Immediately, they knew that that was no NPC. Players could choose from different races, and these very races were what NPCs were made up of as well. But, NPCs can't wear the clothing of Adventurers.

"Who the hell are you?" A Bishop on the right asked.

"It's the Killer Elf! Run!" The Mercenary on the left shouted.

The Elf smirked sinisterly.

He then slowly reached for his rapier which was nestled on his hip, indicating that one of his classes was Swashbuckler. Then, within the blink of an eye, he dived towards the Bishop, piercing the unsuspecting girl in her chest. Spinning on his heel, the Elf jabbed out at the Swordsman on the left luckily, the Swordsman was quick enough to block it with his Katana.

However, it was short-lived. A blast of electricity shot out the Elf's palm, effectively killing all those who were within range. The players turned into colourful pixelated fragments, while this was happening, the others who hadn't been caught turned and fled. The Elf didn't chase them, instead, he sighed and sheathed his rapier and continued down the street.

"Heh, a couple more to add to my collection."

Spring Breeze and King Aiza exhaled a sigh of relief, seeing the Elf walk in the opposite direction. They didn't want to encounter that Elf, one reason being, his stats were over-the-top and they were only at Levels 29 and 28 respectively. Where the Elf's level should be, there was a question mark, and where his HP was, there were five question marks as well. Still, they were able to see a couple things, his class was a Swashbuckler and his name was "Unseen Nightmare".

"How does he still have his avatar?" King Aiza whispered in anger. "That's unfair."

"The only plausible thing I can think of is that he didn't open his "gift" like the rest of us." Spring Breeze answered as he peered around the stall to ensure that all was clear. "But we shouldn't be worrying about that. It's the fact that players who have died haven't been revived and he just killed players in a safe-zone. _That's_ what we need to be stressing over."

"Right..."

At that moment, they saw two players dashed past and decided to follow them. Since King Aiza's class was Swashbuckler, he was able to trail them with ease as his class naturally has a high agility level. Spring Breeze followed at a distance, listening to the directions given to him by his partner. However, throughout all this, they kept an eye out for that Elf, fretting that they may encounter him. They had no idea what kind of person he was, as he nearly killed off two groups of players who hadn't provoked him.

After a couple minutes, they reached a dark alleyway, King Aiza lingering by the entrance awaiting Spring Breeze. The players he was tailing entered through a door on the right side of the wall, but what annoyed him was that it seemed to be camouflaged. When Spring Breeze met up with him, they immediately started to search for the door.

When they found it, they entered cautiously. Inside seemed to be a regular house, with a couch and chairs and tables present. However, there were numerous players present, but all they all froze as their eyes caught Spring Breeze and King Aiza.

"We're just here to find something out." King Aiza started. "You can call me Hajime." He then turned to Spring Breeze, "This is Seiya."

"Yo!" the Archer perked.

"Don't "Yo" us. How dare you barge in here!" a Priest shouted as he stood. "How do we even know that you're not from one of those savage guilds? Show me your guild badges."

Sauntering their way over to the Priest, the two boys from Joumei forked out their badges with triumphant smirks, causing the group at the table to look at each other with confusion. There wasn't a guild in Murata with that insignia ―the kanji for "Thunder" and "Syndicate" within a large lightning bolt.

"How do you read that?" another asked, this time it was one of the Mages.

"We rather not." King Aiza said hesitantly. "Our Guild Leader has a terrible naming sense." The two young men then settled on seats and leaned on the table with mischievous smirks.

"So, enough of that, we want to know about an Elf." Spring Breeze said in a serious tone. Immediately, he saw the other players stiffened in fright.

"Oi." a Marksman said in a whisper and looked behind him at the window. Immediately, another player drew the curtains. "You don't talk about that bastard so loudly."

"From what we know is that he's a Swashbuckler with cheat-like levels and abilities." the Priest started. "And whoever he kills don't get revived, strangely."

"Don't ask us why it happens, we _don't_ know." the other Mage added. "But I personally think that they're not dead, just revived somewhere else, like a prison, maybe. I mean, how can you kill a player inside the game without killing them in the outside world first?"

"Makes sense." King Aiza nodded.

"Could you tell us about the situation of the city?" Spring Breeze then asked. "This sort of thing won't reach to Joumei as well?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, let's say Hummingshade won the power struggle, they won't try to take over other cities, right? Or rather, the defeated guilds won't try to take over somewhere else?"

"I don't know. But I want to get out of this hellhole." Mage-1 grumbled. Priest, Marksman and Mage-2 shushed him, sending suspicious looks to the two from Joumei. However, it never went unheard.

"Why can't you leave?" Spring Breeze asked with a smile. But, his smile was dark and menacing. "Care to elaborate?"

"You didn't come through the Teleport Gate, did you?" the Marksman asked.

"No, we came via travel runes." he responded.

The Marksman sighed. "Well, the Teleport Gate is located within Warlords United's turf. So, to prevent anyone who're not from their guild from leaving, they post guards there. And these guards are of some scary levels."

King Aiza's brows furrowed in confusion. "But why guard the Gate and not the entrance to the city?"

"Because, if you leave the city through the Gate, you'll end up in Joumei or wherever you please, scott-free. However, it's four days by carriage to Joumei, and that's if you travel non-stop. It's likely that you'll encounter monster mobs and die."

"And if you die, you'll be back at square one." King Aiza finished.

"So, have you and your friends attempted to leave before?" Spring Breeze asked.

"No, as you can see, this is a big group and within a big group, chances are that people will die off and we'll have to start over. And, there are a lot of Artisan players here who have no combat class." the Priest said. "Plus, the journey will most likely take a week since we don't have horses or any mode of transport for our own."

King Aiza and Spring Breeze took this time to look about the room. At first when they entered, they didn't really pay attention, but now they did realize that there were quite a lot. They almost totalled the size of a medium guild.

"Are you guys a guild?" Spring Breeze asked. So many players assembled in one place usually are.

"No." Mage-1 shook his head. "We used to be in other guilds but we were forced to disband by the assholes. So we came together to hide out until we can escape."

"So, what about you two? Why are you in Murata?" this time, a Mercenary came up to the table and asked. He seemed a bit angry, as ever since the two arrived here, they've been asking too many questions.

King Aiza sighed. "Our Guild Leader sent us here. Two days ago, he noticed that there were players turning up in Joumei looking like mauled animals. He later found out that they were coming from Murata."

"He wanted to know the reason and didn't want to be caught by surprise if whatever it is reached Joumei as well." Spring Breeze added. "He thought that it was some kind of high levelled monster."

"Your Guild Leader sounds like a smart person." the Mercenary said with a nod. "Now that you've got information, you should know that we didn't tell you for free."

"Alrighty." Spring Breeze said in a sing-song voice. King Aiza had a feeling of where this was going. "So, how much was it?"

"You're going to help us escape." a Paladin said as he eased himself off the wall. He was clothed in his heavy red and gold armour, his black hair was wild.

"You do realize that doing something so covert with a big group such as this is going to need more people, right?" King Aiza said as he folded his arms. "Seiya and I alone can't help _all_ of you escape Murata _and_ survive the possible week-long journey while fending off monster mobs."

The Paladin scoffed. "Obviously not." he said. "Your guild. Ask your guild for back-up."

King Aiza and Spring Breeze's jaws dropped in surprise. They should have realized that something was off when they were willingly divulging information after seeing their guild badges.

"You want us to tell Raiden to send back-up to a messed-up city with a murderous psycho Elf?" Spring Breeze screeched indignantly. "Are you insane?!"

"Then, you won't be leaving."

"Heh, can you stop us?" King Aiza asked. "We can't fight in safe-zones, remember?"

"Yes," someone else spoke up. He was a Thief, with brown curly hair and brown eyes. He flashed their badges. "You can't go back to your Guild without your badges, right?"

It was a fact that if they should turn up without their badges not only will Kise skin them alive, they won't be issued another one. With every new member that Kise adds, they automatically receive a badge from the system which gives them access to areas of their guild hall that outsiders can't unless invited by the Guild Leader. Without it, they'll be treated as outsiders and Kise might get irritated to always have to request them as guests.

"I'm not amused." King Aiza said as he looked at their badges dangling from the Thief's hands.

With a defeated sigh, Spring Breeze prepared himself to call Kise. But just then, he heard a telephone ringing in his head. A small screen popped up with showed that Kise was calling.

"Hello?" he picked up.

" _Who stole your badges?!"_ Came the obnoxious screech.

The Archer shivered. _Were Guild Leaders notified of when a member lost their badges?_ "It's complicated. And a long story."

" _Summarize. Speak in bullet form if you have to."_

"Ah, well..." he proceeded to tell Kise the dilemma that they were in, eliciting angry screeches from the blond, effectively deafening him sometimes. He left out the part about the Elf and the "dead" players, as he knew that that is something needed to talk about face-to-face.

Kise sighed. _"Fine, then. Haul the strays to the entrance of the city and wait there. Do it now."_

"Wait, it'll take you two days to get here if you fly. Wouldn't it make ―"

" _Do. It. Now."_

Spring Breeze shivered at the blond's voice. While he's seen scary sides of the blond Cleric before, it was never directed at him. Hearing it now nearly made him break out in cold sweat upon imagining if Kise arrived at the entrance before they did.

"Yes Sir." he responded before the call hung up. He then turned to face the group in the room and King Aiza. "We need to get moving. Our Guild Leader told me to get you all out to the city entrance. Anyone know a shortcut?"

"Wait, Raiden agreed?" the Swashbuckler gasped. Spring Breeze nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Organizing themselves into parties of seven, the group moved out, with the same Thief and four others leading them through the city without being spotted by anyone. They stuck mainly to dark alleyways and interconnected sewers, which made the journey a lot more safer, albeit a lot more disgusting. No one spoke during this, well, the only ones who did were the four Thieves who were their guides.

After rounding a bend in the sewers, they came up on a dead-end, but there was a way out above. Climbing the ladder embedded in the wall, they reached on the main street which was a straight road from the entrance gate. But, their hopes were dashed when they spotted a group of Warriors marching towards them from the direction of the entrance.

Their levels ranged from 28 to 34, but they all had a fierce look in their eyes. Almost like a pack of wild animals. King Aiza and Spring Breeze cursed their luck and silently prayed that things won't get any worse.

"Hey, you're blocking our way. Move." Spring Breeze hissed. He hadn't the time for this.

"And what are you going to do? Fight me?" One of the Warriors chuckled. Of course that was impossible, given that fighting is prohibited within cities, towns and villages. Well, unless Unseen Nightmare showed up.

"Look, since you're in Crimson Legion's Territory, you've got to join our guild." Another spoke up. "Our Guild Leader doesn't take "no" for an answer."

"We're not from Murata and we're already in a guild." King Aiza said, looking across to the Thief who had their guild badges. He beckoned to him for them to show as proof, but he didn't give them to King Aiza. Instead, he showed them to the Warriors.

Their brows furrowed in confusion, but then the oldest looking one said, "Not all of you are in that guild. If you are, show me _all_ your badges."

"That's right." Spring Breeze spoke up, fiercely. "They're not. But we're taking them with us." The group of Warrior hissed angrily and prepared to draw their weapons after which Spring Breeze mocked, "What are you going to do, fight me?"

"Of course not." a voice said from behind them. Everyone turned around to see who spoke but those at the front closest to the Warriors couldn't due to the amount of players gathered. The player made his way to the front of the group and addressed Spring Breeze, "There's no way you can barge into my domain and try to take away my players like that."

Although his voice was calm, the Archer could sense the underlying threat. Before Spring Breeze could retort, he stole a look at the player's stats. He was a Mercenary, at Level 45. He was unable to see his subclass because in the game, it isn't made visible. And by the way he spoke, Spring Breeze knew that he was Crimson Legion's Guild Leader ―Crimson Dragon.

"Don't you think that you're being rude?" he asked.

King Aiza stepped in and said, "No we're not. They asked for help to escape this hellhole and that's what we're doing. Now, move out of the way."

"Hey." another voice said. This time, King Aiza and Spring Breeze exhaled a sigh of relief at this voice. The Warriors turned around to see Kise, along with Awesome Singularity and Runic Night.

"And who are you?" Crimson Dragon spat.

"Our names you need not know because after this, we'll never see each other again." Kise replied.

"How rude."

"It's not being rude. Plus, you look like the type of asshole who'll forget anyone's name if they're not useful to you." Kise said, "Now, come on. I was waiting for a while, you know?" he said to the group, blatantly ignoring Crimson Dragon and the group of Warriors. Runic Night stifled down his laughter, while Awesome Singularity wondered just how brave her Guild Leader was. She could see Crimson Dragon's Level hovering over his head clear as day, so too Kise's. And that was where she got worried. Kise's Cleric class was ten levels below Crimson Dragon's.

"Oi." Crimson Dragon started. "You can't take what belongs to me."

"But they don't." Kise replied coolly. "Plus, they want to leave. There isn't a law which states that they can't."

"This is my territory, if I say they can't leave, then they can't." the Guild Leader then smiled. He could see what Kise's class was and the fact that he was a guild leader, so he got an idea. "How about you and I decide this in a PvP duel?"

"Sure." Kise grinned. "If you lose, I get your guild and these guys."

"Ha! I won't lose to a lowly Cleric." Crimson Dragon laughed mockingly. At that moment, a faint ball of light appeared in-between the two and they saw a fairy-like NPC who held a sheet of paper which said "Contract" at the top. The fairy then pointed to the two lines at the bottom, urging the two Guild Leaders to sign. Crimson Dragon snatched the pen from the fairy and signed without hesitation, Kise's face was expressionless when he did his.

The fairy disappeared into a ball of light, after which the System announced:

« _New PvP match: Crimson Dragon (Leader of Crimson Legion) vs. Raiden (Leader of Thunderstorm Syndicate), Crimson Dragon wagering his guild and a band of players who want to escape._ _»_

Kise and Crimson Dragon were immediately teleported to the arena, while the others were left to find it themselves.

…

The PvP duelling arena was a completely sheltered area with a large square stage in the middle encompassed by spectator seats. Both participants were already standing on the stage, but Crimson Dragon delayed their match until his guild members arrived. He was oozing with pride and Kise could only laugh internally. He was itching to get this over with, as while he never underestimated any player he encounters, this one before him royally pissed him off with his attitude.

After a few minutes, the arena had numerous players ―Awesome Singularity, Runic Night and the group with Spring Breeze and King Aiza had arrived, so too did Crimson Legion, Hummingshade and Warlords United. Being trapped in a game with nothing else to do, they found that watching a PvP will be exciting. But what they didn't expect was that one of the participants would have been a Cleric.

"That bastard, Crimson!" One player from Warlords United shouted. "He's challenging a defenceless Cleric! How low can this bastard get!?"

"Yeah!" came the shouts from the many players who agreed. But Crimson Legion guild couldn't refute their words as it is a common thing for those of the Healer archetype to be useless when it comes onto combat.

"Fine then! I'll show you idiots!" Crimson Dragon hissed. "I'll give him a handicap. He can attack me first!"

That seemed to calm down the crowd, however, Kise was trying his best to not break out in laughter.

"So, does that mean I can do a combo as well?" Kise asked, sounding a bit innocent and frail.

"Sure! What can your combos do to me, anyway!?" The Guild Leader roared.

Kise covered his face to hide his devious smirk. _You have no idea._

Soon, a male NPC descended from above and greeted the players. « _Are you both ready? »_ it asked. Kise and Crimson Dragon nodded.

« _How many rounds do you wish to play? »_

"One. It doesn't make any sense I waste any energy on a Cleric." Crimson Dragon said. The NPC looked to Kise for confirmation. The blond nodded.

« _Both players will play for one round. »_ The NPC announced. « _Now let the match between Crimson Dragon and Raiden begin! »_

_xxxx_

Back in the real world, the teams and Kise's parents were watching the events unfold. This has seemed to become a routine, but no one minded. They were still seeing Kise alive and well, but more so, they're seeing a side to him that they didn't know existed. For the past two days, Kise has displayed skills that made the blond seem out of character. However, Ryouhei only said:

"My boy doesn't like to be ignorant."

But currently, they were anticipating the match between Kise and Crimson Dragon. Ryouhei has never seen his son in action before, so to say he was excited would have been an understatement.

« _Both players will play for one round. »_ The NPC announced. « _Now let the match between Crimson Dragon and Raiden begin! »_

_W_ _ithin a flash, Kise dashed forwards to Crimson Dragon, swiftly drawing both his katana. Swinging them in a grand arc, he slashed_ _at Crimson Dragon's chest sending the guild leader flying backwards,_ _the attack almost taking half of his HP_ _._

_The entire crowd was stunned into silence, as never before had they seen a Cleric moved like that. As a matter of fact, Cleric_ _s_ _aren't supposed to move like that. No healer should._

_Without giving the guild leader time to recover, Kise charged forwards and was about to use a sword skill when he noticed that Crimson Dragon's hands were glowing. Kise took two galloping steps back, and in that moment, a tunnel of fire raged to him, forcing the blond Cleric to put up a shield._

_[So his subclass is a Fire Mage, huh?] Kise thought._ _He started to break out in sweat due to the immense heat and realized that his shield was starting to have cracks. This indicated to Kise that Crimson Dragon's Mage subclass was higher than his Cleric class. Quickly,_ _he retreated further, but the torrent of fire was still blazing. Drawing one of his katana,_ _after it glowed faintly, Kise removed his shield and made a slash. It took the form of a Crescent Moon,_ _and as it moved towards Crimson Dragon, it parted the fire allowing Kise to move forwards._

" _Ooohhh! It's the "Mikazuki"!" Runic Night shouted in glee. "It's been such a long time that I've seen it!"_

" _Mikazuki?" Awesome Singularity asked. "At what level did he get that skill? I'm also a Swordsman but I can't use that."_

" _Hmm...I think you'd have to be around Level 40 or so." Runic Night said._ _Everyone around them paused in shock. "_ _That skill is shitting dangerous, you know? You don't want to see when he uses the combo or with both his katana."_

"Level 40?!" Kagami screeched in shock. "How high is his subclass level?!"

Moriyama shrugged. "He never told us."

Ryouhei cooed to himself. "That's my boy. I believe he'll destroy that bastard."

"I believe in Ryouta as well." Akashi nodded with a smile. "He's one of us after all."

They then refocused on the monitors, grinning as they saw the blond in action.

_Upon seeing the attack coming towards him, Crimson Dragon dispelled his fire and brandished his broad sword, preparing for the Cleric. But, he cursed his luck or rather, the fact that he had underestimated Kise. Still, he's never encountered a Cleric that could fight like this. He knew for a fact that Clerics can only use a defensive shield and heal. They weren't even allowed to have a subclass. So, Crimson Dragon wondered how Kise was able to have a Swordsman subclass._

_The "Mikazuki" crashed into his blade but in that instant, the sword broke and once again Crimson Dragon was forced backwards. He was shocked, as he knew that his sword was of a high grade. His HP went down again, and before he could react, Kise moved in for the kill._

_Using the skill "Aura of the Swift", Kise seemed to have vanished for a second only to reappear right in front of Crimson Dragon. The blond had ducked low and had poised both his katana to the side, preparing to slice the guild leader in two. With a mighty swing, Kise's katana cut across Crimson Dragon's chest like hot knife slicing through butter._

_The Mercenary was thrown back a few metres, his HP completely drained._

_Just then, some words appeared in the air before Kise: « Winner: Raiden »._

Back in the real world, Kaijou, Seirin and the Miracles along with Ryouhei were hooting at Kise's victory. Ryouhei was tearing up at seeing his son completely destroying his opponent, although he was a bit worried when Crimson Dragon had used the fire spell and Kise's shield was breaking. But, Kise really surprised them as they had thought that he was a goner.

_The group with Spring Breeze, Runic Night, King Aiza and Awesome Singularity erupted with cheers, although Runic Night only nodded as he knew what the blond was already capable of. The rest of the arena was drowning in disbelief, those of the Crimson Legion Guild unable to fathom what just happened._

_With a cheeky smile, Kise then said, "Now that I won, you lot know what this means, right?"_

_There was still silence. The System had already announced the wagers for the duel, so the entire city knew what was at stake. Kise didn't stop smiling and sent a message to Runic Night:_

— _Get Chizuka and stay with me. Tell Haru and Aiza to get the players to the Teleport Gate_ _—_

_Runic Night replied with a thumb's up. Kise didn't send Spring Breeze nor King Aiza the message, because he knew that they'd probably ask him the reason behind it. They couldn't use the Teleport Gate because it's in Warlords United Territory, so more than likely, he'd have to explain what he was planning._

_And he didn't want to at the moment._

" _Ano, is the Guild Leader for Warlords United here?" Kise asked aloud before the players left. "Don't worry, I'm not picking a fight."_

" _I'm here." A thick and bulky player stood up, but seeing him in his dark robes, Kise could tell that he was a Sorcerer of the Dark Path without even looking. In the game, Sorcerers are divided into two types ―Light Path and Dark Path. As their names suggest, one can only use Light Magic which is not the same as Holy Magic and the other uses Dark Magic._

" _Come here for a sec, it won't take long." He smiled yet again. By this time, Runic Night and Awesome Singularity were by his side, while Spring Breeze and King Aiza were moving the group._

_With a scowl, the Sorcerer walked towards him and spat, "What do you want?"_

" _Hey. No need to be so hostile."_

" _I don't know where you came from and you just took over Crimson Legion, that makes you my enemy."_

_Kise gave him a "seriously?" look before rolling his eyes. "First, I'm not even thinking about taking over that guild. I'm taking who I want and leave, never to come back here unless it's something serious." He then added, "But anyway, I've heard that the Teleport Gate is in your turf and I don't want to use my travel runes to get back to Joumei. So, you free-up the Gate and let me along with the players who I choose to leave in peace."_

" _And why should I? How do I know it's not some plot to ―" the Sorcerer didn't finish._

" _I live in Joumei. I don't give a fuck about what happens in this shitty city. The only reason I came here is because my precious guildmates' badges were stolen and held as leverage. Crimson Dragon hauled me here because he didn't want me to take my guildmates and the players away from here." Kise spat, his face darkening. "So I'll round up whoever I need, you send us through and after you can always continue with what you were doing before."_

_The Sorcerer let out a grunt and turned his back to Kise. He knew that he shouldn't pick a fight the Cleric, but this may just be a good thing. Crimson Legion is now in the hands of someone who doesn't want it, so if all goes well, he may assimilate the players who Kise doesn't take with him._

" _Fine. But you said, you'll be taking players with you. What about those who don't want to go?"_

" _Then I'll send them over to you. Think of it as payment for using the Teleport Gate." Kise smirked._

_The Sorcerer nodded. [This blondie isn't so bad.] He thought._

…

_When Kise, Runic Night and Awesome Singularity made it back to Crimson Legion, the blond didn't waste any time._

" _Hello! I'm your new Guild Leader, Raiden." he started, "I don't plan on staying here, so for all those who want to, you come with me to Joumei and join my Guild. I take anyone, class, subclass and level do not matter." he exhaled a breath before he started up again, "So who's coming?"_

_Many hands shot up in the air as soon as Kise finished, and he didn't know whether or not they were just afraid of pissing him off or they hated being in the guild. After confirming who really wanted to leave, Kise took those players and left the guild, ignoring the faithful shouts from the players who wouldn't leave their guild and Crimson Dragon. Little did they know that Kise had left them in Warlords United's care since they wished to stay. In a sense, he was glad, as those players had honestly looked like thugs._

_They then headed to the Teleport Gate where everyone else were waiting, and they headed through, reaching into Joumei instantly. But all through the walk back to his guild, Kise had reverted to his usual chirpy, ball of sunshine-like self, Awesome Singularity wondering where the scary Cleric had disappeared to. All eyes were on the group, since the players that Spring Breeze and King Aiza were supposed to help leave Murata was there as well, as hearing from the former two about their guild, they somehow coerced them to join upon deeply stressing that they get to live there for free and eat good food._

_Upon returning to the guild, Kise sprang into action, dragging Runic Night, Thunder of the Meek, Spring Breeze, Gold Digger into room one, as he needed help in thinking about what to do, since he's just acquired so many players._

" _Can your men construct a building?" Kise asked Thunder of the Meek. She was the leader for that group, being that her Level was 38. "Or do I need to get Famous Lighthouse?"_

" _I think you can get them for the building, but we can do what we can to modify the rooms and such." Thunder said. "If we should start from scratch, it may take a couple days."_

" _We don't have the time for that." Spring Breeze joined in. "Hear what, why don't you guys get started on the beds and other furniture while Famous Lighthouse construct the building?"_

" _Not a bad idea."_

" _Ahem," Kise said with a grin. While they were busy talking, he was making a rough sketch on paper, although attempting to draw with feather and ink wasn't easy. "It's not only one building I'm thinking of." He held up the paper and showed them._

" _EEEHHH?!"_

" _What? It's my yard space, I can do whatever I please." Kise huffed while folding his arms."Plus, have you noticed that there's a lot of bush accumulating around there?"  
_

" _How much money do you even have?!" Runic Night asked, leaning on the table. Kise scooted over and open up his inventory to show the Warrior. When he saw the amount, his eyes widened before he broke out into a devious grin. "Let's do it."_

" _I knew you'd understand, Runecchi!" Kise grinned._

_Runic Night twitched angrily. "I told you, don't call me that!"_

"Man, to think that Kise does that in the game as well." Izuki let out a sigh. "Where did he even get that habit from, anyway?"

"My boy is adorable. Leave him be." Ryouhei said folding his arms. "I think it's cute. He calls me "Papacchi" after all."

The group looked at the man and sweat-dropped. _You're his father, obviously you'll think it's cute._ They thought in unison. But, at this moment, Ritsuko came home, and grabbed their attention when she said she was cooking dinner. These days, they're becoming hooked on the woman's food, but the males (Aomine, Hyuuga, Izuki and Koganei) nearly sent themselves to an early grave when they commented on Riko and Momoi's cooking.

Of course, they watched the update that came much later on in the evening, hoping that the police may have found out something and can finally get started on a plan to get the players out. But sadly, it was the usual, still no such luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	7. Link Start: Detectives

Chapter 7

…

"Ooshiba-san, here's your coffee." a tall dark-haired young man said to another who was sitting in front of multiple monitors which showcased the game. He carried a tray full of coffee and had distributed them to the others around Ooshiba.

"Ah, thank you, Hiro-kun." Ooshiba said with a grateful smile. He was tall as well, with silvery-grey hair and bright brown eyes. His name was Ooshiba Akifumi. Taking a sip of the beverage, Ooshiba let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair.

"So, how's our guild today?" Hiro asked as he sat. His name was Kino Hironori with the nickname "Hiro". Along with Ooshiba and Hiro, there were four others tasked with watching Kise's guild ―Thunderstorm Syndicate.

In order to combat this incident and continue further investigation, the Japanese Government created a Virtual Division within the Police Force. Given that the events happening within the game are visible, the police have hacked into these computers in order to monitor the players and find a possible clue to this madness. To make it easier on themselves and their labour force, the Chief had decided to keep an eye on the guilds instead.

Depending on the size of the guild, one team can monitor up to the maximum three, or the minimum, one. So far, there hasn't been any useful information, only frightening ones. At the moment, they've discovered that there is an Elf, which seems to be a player who is able to do things that the other players can't. In addition to that, there are players missing within the game, who the Elf claimed to have "killed", however, when they check upon their bodies, they are alive and healthy.

"They're fine," another spoke up. This time it was a female ―Yamagishi Rie. "On my end, everything's normal."

"Me too." another male ―Takeda Issei joined in, swinging around in his swivel chair. "So far, nothing eventful has happened."

"Well, it seems like these boys are about to discuss something interesting." Ooshiba grinned. "Look, Raiden and the others are in the conference room."

The other four pushed their chairs closer to Ooshiba and Hiro, looking at the screen with focused eyes.

" _That Elf is driving me insane." Kise groaned out as he placed his forehead on the table._

" _He's driving us all insane." Silver agreed._

_It's been a week since the incident at Murata and Kise was still on edge. Upon hearing the information from Spring Breeze and King Aiza about "Unseen Nightmare", the blond has been on the lookout ever since. He's even experimented with Runic Night and Mysterious Hooligan to see if combat really was legal in safe-zones. However, the moment the boys drew their weapons, an armoured NPC descended from above to stop them._

_Just like that, Kise got a severe headache. If the Elf was a player, then there's no way he should have been able to kill those players in Murata. Hell, he wasn't supposed to even draw his rapier without the guardian NPC descending. But then again, the Elf couldn't be an NPC, because the only combat NPCs are monsters and bosses._

" _Maybe the Elf is a hacker or something." Spring Breeze suggested. "That way, he's able to by-pass the game's system._ _Maybe he's the one keeping us in here too."_

" _If he's a hacker, what does it benefit him to keep us all trapped here? And can't the police track him down already?" Runic Night said. "I'm sure that everyone here is from all walks of life_ _—_ _Sensei is a simple chemistry teacher, I'm no one special either, Raiden's dad own_ _s_ _a publishing house, Bluemane's family owns couple restaurants...so there's no way to pinpoint his motive."_

" _This isn't_ _a simple hostage-for-ransom situation." Gold Digger joined in. "As Rune said, we're all of varying backgrounds,_ _so it doesn't make sense." he then added, "why wait until now anyway?"_

"This really is getting interesting." Hiro smiled. "Who knows? We may be able to get a hint at who's behind this or how to free them."

"I agree." Yamagishi said. "I've heard from Matsunaga that all his guild does is level up and go into dungeons all day long."

"Matsunaga's team is assigned to which guild?" Arai Munetoshi asked.

"Banner Wolves." she replied.

"Sucks to be him." Arai chuckled. They then refocused to the monitors.

_Throughout their discussion, Kise kept silent. Listening to what they were saying, he realized something and came to a conclusion._ _He wasn't sure since he had no idea what's happening in the real world,_ _but it was so far the best bet he had_ _._

" _Maybe the target isn't us but the company, SuperSonic." Kise started. Everyone's eyebrows rose at this. "Think about it, with thousands of players being trapped here, the company will come under some serious fire. Investors will withdraw, stocks will plummet, and all sorts of crazy things. We are just pawns for the asshole."_

" _But why wait until now?" Silver asked. "I've played numerous games from SuperSonic before this and everything was fine." the others in the room nodded in agreement._

_A light bulb went off in Kise's head, "That's it." he smirked. "_ _Don't you find it strange that for every game SuperSonic puts out, there was a team of developers behind it? But for Arcanum, there was only one person_ _—_ _Yoshikawa Masamune. This might sound clich_ _é_ _but what if Yoshikawa wasn't the brains behind Arcanum? What if someone else created the game, but he stole it, presented it to the higher ups and took all the credit?"_

" _Obviously, the true developer will be pissed." Spring Breeze nodded. "It would make sense now that_ _he'd do something like this. Giving SuperSonic a bad name, especially that Yoshikawa guy."_

" _Exactly._ _Revenge can turn a person bitter, you know?_ _" Kise grinned. "But, I could be wrong." he_ _then_ _shrugged. "_ _We don't have concrete evidence, nor do we know what's happening in the real world."_

"I'm going to phone the Chief right now!" Yamagishi shrieked as she made her way to over her desk and picked up the phone. Hearing what Kise had just said, actually made sense and it feels like they were one step closer to figuring out this mystery.

Ooshiba leaned in closer to the monitor, not because he couldn't hear the audio (in fact, it was at its maximum), it was because he didn't want to miss anything that came out of their mouths. Ever since he's been assigned to this guild, he's realized that they're desperately trying to find out the truth and escape the game while making money.

" _Well, even if we do know the cause, we don't have a way to get out of this game." Gold Digger sighed._

" _I know right?" Kise whined. "Couldn't some brave soul from the police department get a NerveGear, enter the game to give us an update_ _or something?_ _After all, it is an MMO._ _"_

That last sentence caused the group watching them to raise their eyebrows. Wouldn't that actually be a good idea? If they should send someone into the game they'd need a way to communicate with them as even though the outside world is capable to seeing everything, even what the players are thinking, the players inside are ignorant.

"I must say, that blond is smart." Fujimoto Sanji commented. "For a pretty boy, he's got a level head."

"I wonder what the Chief will think when he sees this." Ooshiba grinned.

"Well, I know for sure that he'll definitely have SuperSonic divulge information on Yoshikawa Masamune, bring him in for questioning and such." Takeda joined in. "There's actually plausibility to the blond's conjectures. Given that there isn't anyone claiming ransom money for the players, SuperSonic and our technicians realizing that the server is still intact, then, I believe that we should give the blond's idea a shot."

"But who's going to dive in the game?" Hiro asked. "It would make sense to get someone who's familiar with workings of a VRMMORPG."

"Maybe we could contact one of the players who hadn't been caught up in this." Ooshiba said. "It'll be wise to source out a player with a high enough level."

"But seeing how the log out option is gone, who'll be willing to dive in?" Hiro countered. "It's as Raiden said, which brave soul is willing to put their life on hold for God knows how long?"

"Let's let the Chief decide that." Ooshiba sighed. "He may not even use that idea if he can't get in contact with the agent after diving."

"That's right, but for now, let's continue watching." Fujimoto said.

…

"I can't believe this." The Chief ―Matsumoto Hozumi said as he raked a hand through his grey hair. He was a middle-aged man with rough features. "Why hadn't we thought of this?" he then turned to his left to another person male as he stood up. "Let's go."

"Go where, Sir?" the male asked.

"I'm going to get a detective or two to dive in the game and find that blond." Matsumoto said as he walked briskly down the hallway. "Time is of the essence."

They entered into an elevator, and descended two floors below. When the doors opened, the two men saw workers darting to and fro, people shouting across the grand space, all in efforts trying to get everything together.

"Chief!" a female called out to him as she dashed to the men at the door. "As per your request, we have Inoue Rihito and Rindo Kris who are able to full dive into the game. Rindo-kun has played various MMORPG before, so he has some experience although he's never played Arcanum."

"I don't care about that, I'm just glad one of them has experience." Matsumoto sighed a relief. "I'm pretty sure that Inoue-san has never played these types of games before."

"At the moment, SuperSonic's technicians are working on a NerveGear for them each, Kojima-san and Kita-san are currently working in the hospital to set up their rooms."

The male beside Matsumoto whistled. "They sure work fast."

"Who do you think we are?" Matsumoto quipped. "This is a national crisis, of course we're going to be working quickly." he then looked to the female worker, "Where are Inoue-san and Rindo-kun?"

"They're with SuperSonic, Sir."

"Good. Inform them that I'll be coming."

"Yes Sir!"

…

Four hours later.

"I can't believe that I'm about to full dive into a VRMMORPG." Inoue Rihito sighed. "In all my thirty years of living, I've never imagined that this would have become a part of my job."

"Look on the bright side, at least we can log out." Rindo Kris smiled. He was a young man with black curly hair and bright green eyes. This was a fact that since SuperSonic had given them a new NerveGear and had it tested to see if logging out was possible. Luckily, it was.

"I know." Rihito sighed. Earlier today, the two were briefed on what their mission entailed, and was even shown what "Raiden" looked like, where his guild was located and such. As if on cue, the door opened to reveal Chief Matsumoto. With a smile, he walked into the room, the two men giving him a nod as he trotted over.

"I want to say thank you for volunteering." Matsumoto started.

"To be honest, I'm volunteering because my cousin is a casualty." Kris confessed. "We're close like brothers, so I think he'll be able to help us gain Raiden's trust."

Matsumoto nodded, "It's going to be difficult, given that you're starting out from Level 1, but remember, if anything, you've always got the log-out option especially if you encounter the Elf."

"Yes Sir!" the two detectives chorused.

"Good luck."

At that, the two men put on their NerveGear and prepared for diving. "Link Start!"

A busy street greeted the two detectives' eyes, players and NPCs going about their businesses. Rihito was in awe at the level of realism in the game, Kris was just laughing at his superior's behaviour. Then, the two walked off, meandering their way to Kise's guild.

They had started off in the city square, and Kise's guild was quite a distance away from the hustle and bustle unlike other guilds. Making a left turn, Rihito and Kris noticed that the crowd was dissipating and the more they walked, the less crowded the place became. Soon, they neared their destination, and saw that there was a long queue which extended from inside the guild yard to outside on the street.

Both Rihito and Kris were warned about this, as Thunderstorm Syndicate is the only guild that has good tasting food like that of the real world. So naturally, players will flock here not wanting to eat the awful tasting in-game food. They walked passed the line to the other side of the iron gate and entered through a small opening in the side. What they saw left them shocked.

To the left of the guild yard was a stretch of two-storey buildings, lined-up beside each other and separated by white picket fences. But what they noticed was that behind these two-storey buildings were smaller single storey ones connected to them by a corridor.

To the right of the guild yard, there was a similar layout to the buildings, however, the one closest to the entrance seemed to be a café/restaurant. It was a two storey building, with seating areas both inside and out on either floor. Players were sitting peacefully and enjoying their meals, the broad umbrellas covered them from the heat of the sun.

Beside the café/restaurant were buildings reminiscent of the ones on the left albeit with a different colour scheme. In the centre of the yard was a nice and lush lawn, with wooden benches placed here and there with players sitting and chatting, others snacking on various hand-foods. Street lamps lined the various walkways, patches of flowers were seen here and there.

And finally, there were two buildings further ahead of them, the one closest to the left was a vast six-storey building with balconies on each floor and painted in white. Beside that and closest to the right was a small two-storey building which looked fairly normal. There was a sign on the front of it, two kanjis which read "Thunder" and "Syndicate". Immediately, both men knew that this was the Guild Hall.

"Wow, how rich is this guild?" Kris gaped as he and Rihito walked towards the Guild Hall. "This seems like a lot of money was spent."

"That's not our concern at the moment." Rihito deadpanned. "We can always wonder about it later on."

As soon as they neared their destination, they saw a short female in a bob hairstyle dressed in a short kimono with a katana on her hip exiting the six-floored building with a tall blond male following closely behind her. A small smile graced their lips as he was the one they were looking for.

Quickly sauntering over to them, Kris called out, "Hello!"

_xxxx_

In his room, Kise lay on his back in bed, going through his item storage. He realized that he's got quite a few, and smiled to himself. He couldn't wait for them to begin conquering the game, going on raids and tearing down fortresses. He was quite surprised when the entire guild said that they want to beat the game together, even Yahiko stated that he and his Weaponsmiths were working on something mind-blowing and fun.

He was so excited that he couldn't wait.

"Raiden-kun," came a voice from his door. A short knock followed.

Kise couldn't tell who it was but he knew it was a female. "Hmm?" he said as he walked towards the door. Opening it, he saw that it was Awesome Singularity, fully dressed in her combat outfit.

She had dark-hair was done in the bob hairstyle with neat forehead and long side bangs. Her brown eyes reflected calmness. As a female of the Swordsman class, she wore a short dark patterned kimono jacket which stopped mid-thigh and held together by a thin black obi tied into a huge bow at the back. Unlike Kise, she only had one katana which rested neatly on her left hip. Her footwear consisted of what people in the game dubbed as "combat stilettos" ―thigh-high heeled boots with armour covering from the knee downwards.

"Oh, Chizuka-san." He greeted. "You rang?" he asked playfully as he leaned on the door.

However, Awesome Singularity only stood there frozen. Her face suddenly reddened and her eyes widened before she swiftly turned away from him. Kise rose an eyebrow in question at her "shy" behaviour because he knew she was far from it.

"Could you..." she coughed. "...help me level up?"

"Sure, but why are you turning away from me? I don't bite."

"You're shirtless. And umm..." she couldn't finish her sentence. It was now Kise's turn for his face to get red. Whenever he was at home, he was usually in white shorts and a purple t-shirt but in his room, he had a tendency to stay shirtless. And given Chizuka's reaction, it seemed that she liked what she saw.

"Oh. I'm going to get dressed then." He said and shut the door with a soft click. Within less than a minute, he re-emerged from his room, fully dressed in his combat outfit. He then sent a message to the guild, informing everyone that he'd be leaving for a short while.

"Well, let's go." he chirped. "I know the perfect place!"

"Please don't tell me it's a dungeon." Chizuka sighed.

"No it's not."

The two moved off, and headed down the flight of stairs since Kise's room was on the sixth floor. By the time they exited the building and made their way onto the walkway, Kise and Awesome Singularity heard a shout,

"Hello!"

Two players jogged up towards them, one was an Assassin and the other was an Archer. Immediately, Kise placed one hand on his katana's hilt due to one thing ―the players' avatar didn't look their real life selves but neither did they look like the game's avatars. He couldn't decipher it, so he was ready to be prepared should anything suddenly happen.

Chizuka looked at him strangely, but she understood that her Guild Leader was just on edge. Unseen Nightmare really was living up to his name.

"Woah!" Kris said while holding both his hands in front of him. "We mean no harm. We come in peace."

Kise scoffed. "That phrase usually means the opposite."

Rihito then opened up his storage and brought out two badges and handed them to Kise. At first, he thought that the badges were another guild's, but upon closer inspection, he noticed that they were police badges.

"That's proof of our identity. I'm Detective Inoue Rihito and this is my partner, Rindo Kris."

Kise stared at them with an indifferent face while Chizuka's jaws dropped. As they took a step closer, Kise stood in front of Chizuka preparing for the worst.

"How do I know that these aren't fake?" Kise asked with a strong monotone.

"Calm down. There's no need to be jumpy." Rihito said in a calm voice.

"An Elf is out there somewhere able to kill players in a safe-zone, and these same players who he kills don't revive. So excuse me for being on edge." he spat.

As if on cue, Amused Sharpshooter arrived heaving a long sigh. He hadn't even taken notice of Rihito and Kris.

"Well, Rai, it seems as though no one else has information on the Elf." he said. "If push comes to shove, we may have to go back to Murata if we want any more." Earlier in the day, a couple guild members were sent out to gather more information on the Elf.

But Kise didn't reply. Instead, he looked across to Rihito and Kris which indicated to Sharpshooter that there were others present. When his gaze fell on Kris, a shriek escaped his lips.

"Kris!" he lunged at the Archer and embraced him in a hug. "Were you trapped in here all this time?! What about work?!"

"Hold up." Kise said, "Sharp, you know him?"

"He's my cousin!" Amused Sharpshooter perked. "And he's a detective! The best in the world!"

"Oi. The last part's a bit of a stretch." Kris said, pushing the Sharpshooter off of him.

"Thank goodness." Kise heaved a sigh of relief. He then turned to Rihito and Kris to apologize for his earlier behaviour. But the older male simply shrugged it off, saying that he understood the reason for Kise's earlier behaviour.

"So what are detectives doing here?" Kise then asked. He refused to believe that they got caught up in this catastrophe as they had their badges. But then again, he couldn't be too sure.

"We were sent here for investigative purposes." Rihito said in a stern voice.

"How does that work?" Chizuka asked. "We can't log out."

"You can't, but we can." Kris grinned. "The Government is working tirelessly to save you all, you know?"

Hearing that, Kise didn't hitch any further. He brought up the clock and saw that it was a little past midday in the evening and surmised that there was still some time to go before dinnertime when all the members of the guild would assemble. Quickly opening up his friend's list, he saw that Runic Night was in the guild yard, but he had sent out Spring Breeze and Gold Digger. Still, he sent a message to them including Silver as well.

"Well, detectives, Chizuka, Sharp," he began as he walked to the guild hall. "Follow me. We've got a lot to discuss."

_xxxx_

Sitting in front of a TV was a tall brown haired man with dark eyes who wore glasses. His name was Narita Sachio. He was in his bedroom, with the bed nestled in the left hand corner, while his closet was in the other side of the room, parallel to his bed. The TV was mounted on the wall, and he sat at the foot of the bed, eating a cup soup.

Currently, he was watching the midday news update which had the latest report on the Arcanum Incident. Ever since this happened, he's been watching the news earnestly, not wanting to miss a single detail.

 _« This is an update on the Arcanum Incident. »_ The news anchor started. _« From the discussion among a small of group of players, Police have gained some insight on the tragic situation. The Guild Leader, a tall blonde male known as "Raiden", believes that players are only being used as a means to target SuperSonic.»_ He said. _« The Chief in charge of the Virtual Division has issued the following statement. »_

Just then, a clip was played which showed a middle-aged man sitting around a desk in what seemed to be an office.

_« Given that there are no ransom requests, no trace of hackers or terrorists, we believe that there is some plausibility to Raiden's statement. As such, we will be conducting a thorough investigation, thankfully, SuperSonic is cooperating as well. »_

The clip disappeared and the news desk returned to the screen. _«_ _The following clip is from the Thunderstorm Syndicate Guild, which shows a small group of players having a discussion. It is from this very discussion that the Police had decided to make the choice shown previously._ _»_ The anchor said.

Just then, Kise and co. came up on the screen for the entire nation to see. Japan saw and heard everything they talked about, many taking to social media to express various emotions. Kise's fangirls were all shocked to see the blond model inside the game as one of the incident's casualties, but were appalled at how mature he looked and behaved. Even his reasoning came as a shocker to them, as the Kise they knew never showed that side of himself.

Other people expressed a bit of vexation at this, stating that the Police waited for a player to say something like that before they actually thought of it themselves and things like that. Yoshikawa Masamune also came under fire, many starting to wonder if what Kise said was a possibility, and badgered SuperSonic for him to release a statement regarding the creation of Arcanum.

"Heeh?" Sachio drawled as he slurped on his cup noodle. But after the clip showing Kise and co. finished, he gently placed the Styrofoam cup on the floor beside him and climbed up into his bed. "That blond is going to be a pain." He said as he laid on his back and put on his NerveGear before booting up the game and prepared for diving. "I better get rid of him as soon as I can. He's too smart for his own good."

Sachio closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath before exhaling. "Link Start!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	8. A Guild Leader's Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the skills used in this story are from the MMOs I've played.

Chapter 8

…

Standing atop a roof was none other than "Unseen Nightmare", watching the players go by about their businesses. However, there was only one person on his mind ―"Raiden". He sat there for hours, becoming irritated. He had no way of knowing where the blond guild leader was, but as soon as he was about to give up and leave, he spotted Kise along with five others. They were walking leisurely towards the gate, the Elf grinning as he saw them leave the city.

Unseen Nightmare couldn't contain his laugh.

…

"So where exactly are we headed?" Awesome Singularity asked as the group exited the city. They consisted of Kise, Awesome Singularity, Amused Sharpshooter, Rihito, Kris, and two others ―"Fireblade", a Warrior whose given name is Setsurou, and "The Awkward Secret", a Swordsman(woman) whose given name is Hanae. Without replying, Kise brought up a map and with a flick of his wrist, the screen slid over to Awesome Singularity and she looked at it with confusion. "Where is this?"

Amused Sharpshooter leaned over and laughed. "You seriously don't know this monster den?" he guffawed. "This is a popular place for serious grinding. Depending on where you go, the monsters can be powerful or weak. Or in-between."

"I don't know it either." Setsurou said as he leaned over and looked at the map as well. "And I'm at level 30."

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Kise grinned. He then opened up his storage and a whistle appeared in his hand, Amused Sharpshooter did the same thing. Soon, two large winged creatures swooped down from the sky and landed in front of Kise and Amused Sharpshooter. The creature that landed in front of Kise was a Pegasus while Amused Sharpshooter had a griffon. They had both gotten these whistles way back when they had gone on a raid.

"Well, all aboard." Amused Sharpshooter grinned. "Rihito-san, Kris, come with me." The two detectives moved towards the gigantic griffon and after the Archer hopped up, he aided them as well.

"Oh shit." Kise mumbled upon seeing that there were still three people left. He then took out another whistle and blew. Just then, another Pegasus descended beside him. "Setsurou, Hanae, you'll ride on this one." he began, he then turned to Awesome Singularity, "You'll ride with me."

After everyone was mounted, they flew off, soaring through the skies at a comfortable speed. However, Amused Sharpshooter was miserable.

"This is an outrage!" he screeched.

"What is, Sharp?" Kise asked, pulling up his Pegasus beside the Archer's griffon.

"You and Setsurou are riding with females while I have two grown ass men behind me!" he pretended to cry.

"We're not that old!" Rihito countered. "I'm just thirty-two."

"And I'm twenty-seven! I'm sure you know that Chihaya!" Kris argued.

"Yeah, and I'm just eighteen. Compared to your ages, you're old to me."

"Chihaya-kun, please calm down." Awesome Singularity said, trying to soothe. "Weren't you the one who called Rihito-san and Kris-san over to you? The only one to blame is yourself."

"Chizuka-chan, I thought you'd be on my side." he whined.

"I'm a Swordsman. I can't be on an Archer's side." she grinned. Kise chuckled at their playful banter. Some more minutes and they arrived at their destination, a sparse green forest, with trees reaching up to the sky.

"Since we're here, how about we split up in groups?" Amused Sharpshooter suggested. "I can take with me Kris and Rihito-san."

"Hoh? And leave me with three charges?" Kise said, folding his arms. "How evil."

"You're a Cleric! You can always heal your party!" he argued. "None of us here have that ability."

"Fine. Let's go, guys." Kise smirked. "Let's see which group will be the first to gain five levels."

"Challenge accepted." Amused Sharpshooter smirked.

With that, the groups split up and went their separate ways. Amused Sharpshooter's group went to where the lower ranked monsters are since Rihito and Kris are at level 1. Kise's group headed to a higher level area since the lowest level of the group was Awesome Singularity who was at level 27.

Walking a couple minutes, the group encountered a mob of "Twin-Headed Bears" ―which were bear-like creatures with a huge body and incredibly long and sharp claws. Without hitch, Awesome Singularity dashed forward followed by Hanae. The two girls of the Swordsman class hacked and slashed continuously at the creatures, Kise dragged a hand over his face at their lack of coordination and teamwork. Setsurou only stood and watched, not able to join the fray.

"Come on guys ―girls! What about me!?" the Warrior roared. "Save some for me!"

 _These impulsive bastards..._ Kise groaned out as he watched them. But, he did nothing to interfere as his way of levelling up would be through healing them (mostly).

Setsurou dashed into the mob of monsters and after executing the "Evasive Roll" Skill, he used the "Vortex Slash" ―swinging his blades out in a wide arc, cutting down the monsters as he moved along. Pivoting on his feet, Kise then saw Setsurou use another skill, which most classes had albeit to correspond with their equipment ― "Rain of Blows". This skill was a flurry of sword swings while advancing, enabling the Warrior to take less damage as he surged forwards.

Kise then looked across to Hanae who was using the "Rapid Slice" skill to continuously take down the medium sized bears, ducking and dodging the attacks as she went along. Awesome Singularity used the skill "Oblique Thrust" which as its name suggests, she thrust her katana forwards stabbing continuously at her foe.

Within a couple minutes they cleared out that entire area, gaining some gold and EXP as well. They moved on after Kise recovered their stats and gave them a pep talk about their shitty teamwork. He inwardly laughed at the irony, as he was once a solo player.

Upon reaching the next area, this time, they worked better together and cleared out the monster bears quickly and efficiently. While Kise buffed them, he had to watch out for monster plants as well as he didn't want to get caught off-guard by anything. But as they advanced, Kise noticed that something was amiss. There were too many aggressive monsters coming towards them instead of them having to grab aggro. In addition, there were different monster mobs apart from the Twin Headed Bears. They encountered Lizardmen, goblins etc. which shouldn't be possible. This area was specifically for Twin Headed Bears _only._ This had never happened before in the game and Kise wondered if this was some bug or something to do with Unseen Nightmare.

"Guys," Kise started, catching their attention. "I think we should turn back." All eyebrows rose up at his statement. "Something feels off. Let's go before things take a turn for the worst."

"Really?" Hanae asked with a frown. "Aren't you overreacting?"

"I'm not." Kise said, calmly. "I've been here before, so obviously I can tell when something's wrong." he folded his arms as if saying ' _You better listen to me and don't argue'_.

Setsurou nodded in agreement. "He's the Guild Leader, I think you should listen."

"But we're doing so well!" Hanae countered. "What if this is all a part of the game? Chihaya-kun had stated that this was a monster den."

"Hanae-chan, let's hear what Rai―" Awesome Singularity broke off as the ground suddenly started shaking. The ground shook, bobbed and swayed like waves, the players were all displaced and struggling to keep afoot.

Just then a gigantic worm-like creature emerged from the ground. It's body was thicker than a horse and at least thirty metres long. There were intricate blue traces on the side and underbelly. At first glance, Kise and co. thought that it was a snake but upon closer inspection, they couldn't help gasp in horror. Seeing it, a shiver ran down Kise's spine, the thing was extremely _hideous_. He's never liked earthworms in the real world, and to see one this big in the virtual world was nothing short of frightening. However, looking at its health bars, Kise's face blanched.

The System then announced: _« You have fallen into the Cocoon of the Blue Traced Worm »._

This was something that the three of them couldn't handle. Kise could always take a chance if Mysterious Hooligan, Amused Sharpshooter and Runic Night were here, but he had a level 3o Warrior with a Fire Mage subclass, two Swordsmen(women) one with a Sorcerer subclass and the other had Archery. While their subclasses were useful, their levels weren't quite up to par to take on that beast.

"Everyone! Run!" Kise screamed. Without hitch, Setsurou and Awesome Singularity dashed off, Kise even buffing them with "Aura of the Swift". However, he noticed that someone was missing. Stopping and turning around, he saw that Hanae was heading in the opposite direction ―she was actually going head-on to the boss monster.

Kise's face twisted with disbelief.

Cursing, he ran towards her, hoping to grab her before she gets aggro. However, that day was not to be Kise's lucky day. As soon as Hanae reached closer to the boss, she drew her katana and attacked its exposed underbelly, however, instead of scratching it or dealing some damage, her katana broke and disappeared into pixelated fragments.

"What…?" she mumbled in shock. Then, with swift movements, the Worm opened its mouth and dived towards Hanae, swallowing her whole. Kise gaped in shock.

"Well, well, well," a voice rang out from atop the worm's head. "I've finally met you, Raiden-kun." Soon, an Elf with dark green hair and piercing red eyes appeared with a nasty grin on his face. Kise's blood immediately ran cold as he knew who it was ―Unseen Nightmare.

_xxxx_

"That stupid bitch!" Ryouhei roared with anger as he watched what was unfolding in the game. "Ryou told her to run, why did she run towards that beast?!" The occupants within the room were beyond livid. In addition to Seirin, Kaijou and the Miracles, Ryouhei, Ritsuko and Kise's sisters ―Reiko and Ruiko were present. The latter two wanted to see their little alive and in one piece, but they didn't think that they'd end up seeing him in such a situation.

_[Shit! What's he doing here?!] Kise thought in horror. But what was even more horrifying was that he could see Hanae inside the Worm but her levels were steadily draining. Kise didn't want to know what will happen if she reached level 1 so he decided to act._

_By this time, Awesome Singularity and Setsurou had stopped to look behind them as they hadn't seen Kise. But when they saw Hanae within the creature and the Elf atop its head, they broke out in cold sweat. With his quick thinking, Setsurou called Amused Sharpshooter and told him the situation before he and Awesome Singularity headed towards Kise to aid as backup. Seeing them coming, Kise quickly phoned them both._

" _Don't get too close to it." Kise said. "I can't protect myself and you guys too. Plus, God knows what skills that Worm has."_

" _Understood." They both said._

" _My, my," Unseen Nightmare grinned. "The more, the merrier. So what will you do, Raiden-kun? Your precious guildmate's life is hanging in the balance, you know?"_

" _Raiden isn't alone!" Setsurou shouted and from his Fire Mage subclass, he launched an attack at the Worm. With a sickening twist, the creature evaded the tunnel of fire, Kise feeling like he wanted to throw up by just looking at the creature._

_He then said, "I'll hold it in one place, so you better deal some damage. Our priority is to get Hanae. The moment she's free, we're leaving."_

_Kise dashed off towards the creature, and stopped mid-range. Using the skill "Binding Chains" ―out of two magic circles, came six chains with a faint yellow glow, extending towards the Worm boss and trapping it in place. Writhing and squirming, the Worm struggled against Kise's chains, hoping to get free causing the blond to break out in sweat because of the immense strain that was more than he could handle. Its gigantic body gave it terrifying strength and Kise knew that with one hit, the beast could deal some serious damage._

_Awesome Singularity and Setsurou used their most powerful attacks in their current arsenal to deal some damage to the boss. However, it was futile. There was hardly any scratch, and its health bars had remained intact. Seeing a dark green glow cover the Worm's body, Kise yelled,_

" _Disperse! Be careful!"_

_The two managed to react just in time to escape the Blue Traced Worm's poison. It dug into the ground, all colour from Kise's face drained. A worm's natural element is the earth, and as such, it can move swiftly and nimbly in the ground, giving it the element of surprise when attacking._

_A deadly silence hung in the air, seeming as though the Worm had disappeared. But feeling a tingling sensation, Kise buffed their legs and told them to jump. A couple seconds after, the Worm emerged from the ground, opening its mouth ready to swallow them whole._

" _Attack!" Kise barked. Strangely in sync, the trio launched their strongest at the creature; for Setsurou, twelve swords of Fire formed behind him before they flew towards the Worm, Awesome Singularity used "Lightning Strike" from her Sorcerer subclass and Kise used "Heavenly Slash" ―after pointing the edge of his both his katana to the sky and then bringing them down, a large vertical slash of Holy Magic headed straight to the Worm. All three attacks dealt damage, although Kise's was more effective due to the higher level._

Boom!

_The Worm shot out of the ground and into the air, Kise letting out a cry of disgust and horror. Everyone scattered away from the creature, Kise preparing an attack for when it landed. Looking back at Hanae, he realized that he couldn't prolong this any more and may have to attack the Worm without the help of Awesome Singularity and Setsurou. He couldn't afford them to be caught like Hanae as well._

_The Worm dived downwards to them and with an intimidating stance, four times with each arm Kise swung his both his katana in a wide arc, seeming to be forming an "X". Brilliant Crescent Moons flew towards the Boss and swiftly sliced the Blue Traces on its underbelly. It was the "Mikazuki: Eight Moons" Combo and it hit the Worm squarely. A cold glint flashed across Kise's eyes as he prepared for the Worm once more._

Pfff!

_A cloud of slime burst forth, Hanae falling out as well. Kise screamed as he ran, not wanting the slime to catch him. He wasn't worried that there may be a debuff in it, he just felt that the slime was nasty._

_The Boss crashed landed on the ground, and began to writhe all over the place. Kise suddenly realized that the Traces were its weakness. But ignoring that, he dashed over to Hanae who lay unmoving in the slime._

" _Hiii!" Kise shrieked in disgust as he held her under her arm. "This is disgusting!" But holding her, he saw that the slime really had a debuff present: Paralysis. Quickly getting out of there, Kise recovered her stats but frowned. She had lost all of eleven levels and was now Level 19. Add to that, she lost her primary combat weapon and was momentarily paralyzed._

_[This is a fucking disaster]. Kise thought angrily as he used "Cleansing Touch" to remove the debuff._

_Kise was right. The Blue Traced Worm was clearly enraged. It twisted its massive body and swept it across the area. The terrifying rampage caused everyone to retreat, stones and trees flew everywhere as explosions resounded in the air. The power of the Worm Boss was dreadful. Kise didn't even care about the slime on Hanae anymore, he slung her over his shoulder and bolted. Opening up his item storage, he got a Travel Rune and prepared to use it. However, it only glowed and faded. They hadn't been teleported._

" _What kind of trap is this?!" Kise cursed. Placing Hanae on the ground, he spun and faced the raging Worm, somehow, it was ignoring Awesome Singularity and Setsurou. It then slithered towards Kise, but the blond didn't retreat. Instead, he rushed forward to meet it and right when it seemed as though the Worm would have crushed him, he used "Aura of the Swift" and leaped upwards behind its head after which he used "Mikazuki" to send a Crescent Moon shaped attack of Holy Magic towards the creature._

_Kise flicked backwards to avoid landing on the boss, and out of its sight. He then used "Fury Strike" ―an attack with which an upward slash from his katana, Holy Magic emerged from the tip and proceeded to the Boss. The attack dealt damage to the boss, Kise grinning at this. Finally one health bar had gone down. Two more to go. He then buffed Awesome Singularity and Setsurou with "Aura of the Swift" for them to attack it and escape before it reacts. Setsurou used his Mage subclass and burned off most of the slime covering the Worm's body, while Awesome Singularity and Kise hacked away at its traces._

_Using most of his destructive skills, the Worm's HP was wearing down at a considerable rate but it was exhausting for Kise. The more he attacked, the more he had to heal himself and the others. The traces dimmed significantly, and thankfully, Setsurou was there with his Fire magic. The slime was extremely slippery, but what he noticed ―the slime was like some form of armour._

_Throwing those thoughts aside, Kise focused at the task at hand, and within some minutes, the Worm had been successfully killed, dropping some rare items, EXP and gold. Kise collapsed onto his butt, exhausted. Too lazy to heal himself, he drank a recovery potion. With the boss now dead, the paralysis had been lifted off Hanae._

_Then, the System announced: « First Boss kill of the Blue Traced Worm ―Raiden, Awesome Singularity and Fireblade »._

" _It's the first time my name's been announced on the server!" Setsurou cheered. "Yay!"_

" _Quit idling and let's go!" Kise said as he ran passed. He remembered seeing the Elf when the Worm appeared, he didn't want to linger._

" _No, no," Unseen Nightmare said, appearing out of the shadows. "None of that."_

_However, as they reached a certain area, they bumped into what seemed to be an invisible wall, preventing exit. Only Awesome Singularity had managed to escape. Then the Elf walked towards them with a grin on his face. Dark green mist spewed out of his body, Kise knew all too well that anything of a dark colour coming out of an opponent is never something good. The mist came at them with great speed, but quickly opening his inventory, he selected two items called "Lifesaving Brooch" and "Shadow Trinket". He had gotten those (among other things) when he went on a two separate raids with Goldengarde Guild last month. The Brooch forms a protective barrier around the wearer, saving them from all forms of attacks. However, if the owner isn't the one wearing it, its strength is only as strong as their level. The Shadow Trinket on the other hand, allows instant regeneration. The moment the wearer is damaged, the wound will immediately heal. And if HP wears down, it builds it back up._

_He threw them to Setsurou and Hanae and told them to put it on quickly. With the Brooch and Trinket now equipped, the mist didn't approach them thus, kept them from being poisoned._

" _How selfless." Unseen Nightmare mocked._

" _Thanks," Kise spat with sarcasm._

" _But not because Healers have a high resistance to poisons that doesn't mean you'll last forever." Unseen Nightmare smirked. He then opened up a Menu yet again, and touched it twice before a white light surrounded Kise. But, after a second or two, it disappeared, Kise checking himself for any damages, any debuffs._

_There was nothing._

" _What did you do?" Kise asked, his voice laced with fear._

" _Nothing much." Unseen Nightmare said as he glared at Kise with a killer intent. His legs were bent, his left arm holding the rapier directly at Kise. The blond retreated in two quick galloping steps in order to gain some distance. However, Unseen Nightmare lunged forward with his rapier extended, Kise dipped deftly to the right of the rapier, spun around, and then came back from below with his katana, clashing against the Elf's._

_The two blades slid against each other until they reached a midpoint, then held. With the pressure of his own, Kise had used all his strength into stopping Unseen Nightmare's rapier. His arms were shaking, and it was then that he realized that the poison mist was taking effect faster than he thought prior. Kise buffed himself with "Aura of the Strong", and pushed off Unseen Nightmare._

_Then, the Elf moved his rapier, slicing the point of the sword through the air in short whip like movements. He then snapped the blade sideways to Kise but the blond brought up his katana and parried the blow. Then, the two were suddenly engaged in a rush of jabs and parries, making a dense clatter as they fought off each other's blows. When Kise's blade glanced wide to the right, Unseen Nightmare lunged forward, but Kise was quick enough and rocked back, sweeping his katana up and around and onto Unseen Nightmare's wrist._

_However, in that instance, white coloured vines shot up out of the ground and wrapped itself around Kise. The blond froze that moment, but then a surge of electricity coursed through his body forcibly ripping a scream from his throat. The vines receded and Kise collapsed onto the ground on his fours. He was flabbergasted at what just happened._

_He felt pain._

_In this world, pain is non-existent. The closest that they'd feel to their real bodies is a little exhaustion if their HP gets too low. That's it. But this, this was crazy._

Ryouhei balled his hands into a fist, pissed that he couldn't go into the game and knock some senses into Hanae. Because of her, his precious boy was hurting. Tears stung at the corner Ritsuko's eyes, Ruiko and Reiko scheming that when the players return to the real world, they'll hunt her down and personally deal with her.

Kuroko was extremely disturbed at this, as even though he found Kise irritable and annoying, seeing him face such a thing was close to heartbreaking. Even the Miracles, especially Aomine was seething. He didn't know much about VRMMOs, but he kept swearing that he'll definitely help the blond's sisters to take her down.

_While Kise was still dazed, Unseen Nightmare attacked him, sending the blond Cleric flying into a nearby tree. A sickening crack was heard and once more, Kise screamed out in immense pain. He didn't know if the sound came from the tree branch that broke or from him, but either way, his body was convulsing from the pain. Using the skill "Cleansing Touch", Kise tried to heal himself, however, he realized that due to the poison from the Elf, there was hardly any effect. Struggling to get up on his feet, Kise saw that the Elf was making his way to Hanae and ignoring Setsurou._

_The two were bound by something, Kise couldn't decipher because his vision in one eye was cloudy with red. It burned a little, and when he rubbed it, what he saw left him shocked. It was blood. Kise's breathing became heavy from seeing it, as if he was close to having a panic attack._

" _I'm bleeding?" he gasped. "Why…?"_

"My baby!" Ryouhei and Ritsuko screeched in horror. "That Elf should be charged with assault!"

"Wounding with intent!" Reiko joined in her parents' screeching.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go headhunting." Ruiko said, fumbling in her large handbag. Then, she pulled out a gun, and loaded the cartridges. "No one should hurt my little brother like that and live to boast about it." she spat with venom. Kaijou and the others flinched in horror at the family and made mental notes to be careful around Kise. If, by some chance, they made him cry or whatever, then they knew that this psycho family will find them. And no one wanted to be on the Kise family's hitlist. But then, the teams wondered how Haizaki was still alive after Kaijou's match against Fukuda Sogo in the Winter Cup.

"Of course we all are." Ryouhei grinned wickedly. "I call dibs on the Elf. The rest of you can hunt that girl. She's at fault as well."

"Papa, you're such a hog." Reiko pouted. After, everyone looked back on the monitors, although they didn't want to see Kise writhing in pain so much. However, at the moment, they saw Unseen Nightmare walk over to Hanae who was bound by what seemed to be vines, unable to even lift a finger. Her bow was laying in front of her.

_Unseen Nightmare swung his rapier in a wide arc, wanting to cut Hanae's chest. She squeezed her eyes shut knowing full well that one attack from the Elf would kill her in her current state. When she saw the blade come down, she thought, [this was it] but after a couple seconds, she realized that nothing happened._

" _Raiden!"_

_Hanae opened her eyes at Awesome Singularity and Setsurou's screams, and saw something that made her gasp in horror. Her Guild Leader shielded her from harm, but he was bleeding and his clothes looked tattered. She found it strange, since their clothes don't get torn in-game nor are they supposed to bleed._

_Pushing back the Elf, Kise charged forward, swinging his blades at Unseen Nightmare. However, the Elf used a skill from his subclass, and shot electricity at the blond Cleric. Ducking to the left, Kise managed to escape, but he slid in the dirt and fell onto his back._

_At this, Unseen Nightmare rushed up and was about to slice Kise in half, but, thankfully, the blond was fast enough and rolled out of the way. Getting up onto his feet, Kise took his stance holding his both his katana before him. His arms and legs were shaking, pain racked his body both inside and out, but gritting his teeth, he had to work through it. What he hated was that his healing skills weren't working as efficiently as they should, but at least, they kept the poison at bay...for now._

" _Let's see how long you'll last." Unseen Nightmare grinned. However, at this moment, Kise used "Plague of Exhaustion" on his opponent, making the Elf stagger and sway for a moment. Using this opportunity, Kise charged at Unseen Nightmare and when he was close enough, he used the skill "Tornado Strike" and landed forty-eight deadly blows to the Elf. His HP was going down, which Kise was grateful for, but that was when everything took a turn for the worst._

_While Hanae was able to move, Setsurou still had his body bound by an invisible force. In an attempt to aid her Guild Leader, Hanae switched to her Archer subclass and tried to aid Kise by firing off her arrows using "Arrow Volley". While it worked (to an extent), it was making Unseen Nightmare quite irritable. With a devious smirk, he lunged towards her, Kise hardly having any time to react. From the players who he got from Murata, he knew that the Elf's equipment was of a high quality. Since she was at level 19, Kise knew that one or two hits from the rapier would enviably kill her. Add to that, even though she had on the Brooch, its power corresponds to the wearer's level._

_And anyone killed by the Elf don't come back._

_But within a flash, Unseen Nightmare disappeared in thin air, only to reappear where Setsurou was. Within a blink, the Elf sliced the Warrior, taking some HP as well. He then looked into Kise's direction and sliced Setsurou again. Hanae tried to use her bow to bash him but she was sent flying couple metres away._

" _Stop..." Kise said, choking out. "Stop!" he screamed. Ruthlessness shined in Kise's eyes, and ignoring the pain (like he was earlier), he dashed towards the Elf, hacking away at him. Kise was absolutely relentless, using deadly skills like "Mikazuki", "Heavenly Slash", "Fury Strike" and "In Cold Blood" with the latter forcing the Elf to attack him due to its aggro factor. Tears rolled down the blond's eyes, both due to the fact that he almost lost Setsurou and his body was being overrun with pain._

_Strangely, Unseen Nightmare was flustered. Although his stats and abilities were far above Kise's, he was being overpowered. Not wanting this drag out any further, Unseen Nightmare leaped backwards while buffing his rapier. Lunging forward, the Elf continuously stabbed at Kise, and now with his body slowing down, Kise was unable to block all of the strikes._

_Blood splattered all over the place like scattered autumn leaves, sickening snaps were heard as though there were bones breaking, but all through this, Hanae could only look on with horror. She knew this was all her fault and there wasn't nothing she could do about it since she was at a mere level 19 and lost her primary combat weapon. But as she continued to look on, she saw Kise fighting with unyielding determination. Although his movements were sluggish even with "Aura of the Swift", he still managed to deal some blows to the Elf. Whenever he felt that his close ranged attacks weren't going to reach, he used his Cleric skills instead._

"Yeesssss!" Ryouhei shouted out. "Slaughter that motherfucker!"

"Ryou! There are children in the room!" Ritsuko hissed angrily.

Sticking out his tongue playfully while scratching his nape, he said, "Oops, my bad."

_[Shit! Did I actually make the Cleric class this powerful?!] Unseen Nightmare thought as he was sent flying backwards by one of Kise's spells. [If this continues…] but then, he ended his trail of thoughts when he remembered something. Opening his storage, a spell circle shone on the ground and slowly a creature emerged. It was a Lamia ―a creature with the upper half of its body being a beautiful woman but below the waist is that of a serpent._

" _Oi, oi, oi," Setsurou said as he trembled. He hadn't died, but his HP was halved. "Don't tell me it's another boss?"_

_As if on cue, the System Announced: « You have been ensnared in the Lamia's illusion »._

" _Well shit." Kise mumbled. He buffed himself and recovered whatever stats he could, after which he drank a recovery potion. Although most of his wounds were now healed, his clothes and skin were still stained with blood._

" _Kill them." Unseen Nightmare said to the Lamia. That moment, her hair turned into snakes and slithered towards the trio. Kise stood rooted in front of Hanae and Setsurou, being that he didn't want to take any chances. Although Setsurou had the Shadow Trinket, he wasn't sure if the Elf was able to do something to it like how he's currently feeling pain and bleeding._

_As the snakes came close, they pounced upon Kise, of course, now upgraded to a Swordsmaster due to the Blue Traced Worm, he killed the smaller snakes with ease. But, he knew something was amiss. Glancing around to the two behind almost every second, he found that they were safe...for now. Looking back at the Lamia, he saw that she was spawning snakes rapidly._

_Kise charged forwards, wiping them out with his attacks and spells of Holy Magic, but there were too many snakes. In that moment, while he focusing on getting rid of the snakes, Unseen Nightmare headed towards Hanae, forcing Kise to use his "Binding Chains" to pull both Setsurou and her away._

" _Pay attention, Raiden-kun." Unseen Nightmare grinned. A snake bit into Kise's shin, pain like hot iron worked its way up through his leg. Grunting in pain, Kise nearly doubled over, when he was bitten again on his other shin. Fed up, decided to take a gamble. He needed to get rid of that Lamia before anything else happens._

_Holding a recovery potion in his hand, he charged forwards into the snakes and towards the Lamia and used one of his Clerical skills "Holy Smite" ―Kise opened up his grimoire and pulled out his sceptre. Holding it up into the air, a large bright ball of light descended and as soon as it was within range, it exploded, enveloping everything in blinding light. As the light dispersed, the snakes were all gone and the Lamia's life had entered the red. Without hitch, Kise used the "Mikazuki" and "Fury Strike" to end her, after which the System Announced:_

_« First Lamia boss kill ―Raiden »._

_Kise was tired and exhausted, and for some reason, the recovery potion that he drank wasn't helping. He was bitten by snakes only on his legs, and even though the Lamia was gone, the pain was still lingering._

" _Raiden!" Awesome Singularity screamed, alerting the blond Guild Leader of the danger. Unseen Nightmare was heading directly to Hanae and Setsurou. The Elf smiled, for a moment, it actually seemed genuine. As he was about to bring down his rapier to slice her, Kise reached just in time, and used both his katana for the block thinking that with the two of the them combined, they could withstand the Elf's (cheat-like) rapier._

_How wrong he was._

_Hanae only heard the sound of a glass shattering before she heard the heavy thud of a body fall to the ground. Kise landed face-first in the dirt, both his katana blades were broken and a couple seconds after, they disappeared into pixelated fragments. A pool of dark red flowed out from beneath him, Hanae staring on in horror._

_Unseen Nightmare then stabbed Kise in his lower back, eliciting a weak scream yet painful scream from the blond. The Elf could see his health bar and knew he wasn't dead yet._

_[Damn Cleric, so fucking hard to die!] Unseen Nightmare thought bitterly. "This is all your fault!" he shouted. "My perfectly made plan is crumbling all because you decided to be a smart little shit!" He stabbed at Kise yet again, this time a painful groan came from him._

_Just then, a bright pillar of light shot up out of the ground, dealing damage to the Elf. It was Kise's spell ―Holy Reprisal. However, do to the gravity of the situation, Kise used up most of his remaining MP to prolong the spell for more damage to be inflicted. By the time the pillar of light faded, Unseen Nightmare's health went down and clearly the Elf was not happy. He was about to stab Kise yet again when eight arrows crashed into his body, sending him flying couple metres away._

_Hanae looked in the direction the arrows flew from, she managed to crack a smile on her teary eyed face._

" _I'm not amused." Amused Sharpshooter hissed angrily as he continued to use "Arrow Volley" and "Rapid Fire" to release multiple arrows at the Elf._

"I agree with the Archer boy." Midorima said, gripping his lucky item ―a small kitchen knife in rage. "I'm not amused." Everyone inched away from the shooting guard, what made it worse, Akashi was right beside him.

"I'm not extremely close with Kise, but even I'm feeling upset at this." Hyuuga said. However, Kaijou had to be restrained especially Kasamatsu. The Blue Elites were seething awfully, and somehow, the Miracles felt a little bit jealous seeing how close they were to Kise.

_Mysterious Hooligan and Shameless Illusion were with him as well, the former freeing Hanae and grabbing Setsurou, the latter working with Amused Sharpshooter to tackle the Elf. Using the skill "Time's Sphere", Shameless Illusion rendered the Elf immobile long enough for Amused Sharpshooter to continue with his rain of arrows._

_Throughout all this Awesome Singularity was confused. The trio that just arrived was able to approach them but she still couldn't. The invisible wall was still there, and ultimately, she collapsed onto her butt with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was mad at her powerlessness._

" _Guys!" Mysterious Hooligan then shouted as he flashed a Travel Rune ―a small rectangular light-blue coloured paper with intricate deep blue rune-like markings. Without hitch, He took Hanae and Setsurou, while Shameless Illusion dashed towards Awesome Singularity, Amused Sharpshooter took out one as well, everyone safely leaving the area._

_Unseen Nightmare was not pleased._

_xxxx_

"Oi! Azuma! Akinori!" Amused Sharpshooter shouted as he carried Kise towards a nearby table in the social area.

"Ben! Chie! Anyone!?" Shameless Illusion screeched.

The members present didn't see what was going on at first, when those called emerged and Kise was put down, gasps and frantic chatter rang out. It was the first time that they've seen their guild leader in such a state and it was absolutely mortifying. His clothes were torn in numerous places, cuts, scrapes and slices marred his body but worst of all, there was blood everywhere.

"I'm here!" Ben shouted. His primary class was Priest, with a Fire Mage subclass. His in-game name was "Elf's Serenity" since the avatar he had was of the Elf race. A mortified gasp escaped his lips as he laid eyes on Kise, and when he looked to Amused Sharpshooter, his eyes were saying "What the hell happened?" However, he didn't wait for an answer. Using the skill "Regeneration Circle", he tried to heal Kise as his HP had gone down into deep red. One attack from something as low as a level 1 skill could kill him at the moment.

"Everyone who saw what happened, please come with me." Silver then spoke up. "You too Rihito-san, Kris-san." he then turned to the rest, "The rest of you give Ben-kun some space, he needs to concentrate."

And like that, everyone cleared out of the room, Silver taking the ones he called to find out what exactly happened. His Guild Leader was bleeding and clothes were tattered, that was something that doesn't happen in the virtual world. While Kise was out of commission, as the one second in charge, he figured that he should get as much information as possible. First the log out button disappears now this?

"What the hell is next?" the chemistry teacher mumbled to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	9. Aftermath

Chapter 9

…

"The conclusion that we get from this is that Yoshikawa Masamune may have some answers as to why there's a terrorist Elf roaming about." Rihito said with a sigh. "For a fact, he can't be Unseen Nightmare."

"But the problem is, we still don't know how he managed to get Raiden to bleed and experience pain." Kris nodded. "But don't worry, we plan to ask the technicians of SuperSonic when we get back."

"Woah, I still don't understand why Yoshikawa isn't the Elf." Gold Digger spoke up. "I mean, it's been three months since the game was released! There's no way a player could have such levels without some form of cheat―"

"Naoki-kun," Kris cut in, "Given the circumstances, it does seem plausible that the Elf is Yoshikawa. But if he really was, why would he wait until three months to begin his assault? It would have been far easier to take down players during the offset when everyone was at level 1. If he hated the company, why publish the game under their banner? Plus, there are other ways of sinking a company without trapping thousands of players inside a game."

"But, that doesn't mean there isn't a possibility that he has a hand in this..." Gold Digger trailed off. "...what if the player behind Unseen Nightmare is his accomplice? Yoshikawa could be the one to remove the log out button, and make Raiden bleed while the Elf terrorizes us."

"There's that possibility." Rihito said with a nod. "We'll make sure to look into that. However, what do they get from having the Elf harass players?"

"Yeah, it's not like the outside world can see what's going on in here." Runic Night said. "If that was the case, then I would say the Elf is here to have us experience despair and such, and with those watching, they'll come down even harder on SuperSonic."

Rihito and Kris froze on the spot.

What Runic Night said was pretty spot-on, but they were told not to tell the players that Japan could see what's happening in the game, even their very thoughts. This was to prevent players from becoming overly self-conscious.

Silver, with Rihito and Kris on his left, Runic Night, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger on his left sat in silence, pondering about the recent events. After they heard the different sides of the story from Setsurou, Awesome Singularity, Hanae and Amused Sharpshooter, they put the pieces together and were now trying to figure _something_ out. The detectives aside, everyone had tried to pitch in reasonable conjectures, Amused Sharpshooter commenting that Gold Digger and Runic Night were beginning to sound like "Raiden".

"But you know, in terms of levels, it isn't impossible to be near god-like." Runic Night said. "Look at Raiden, he isn't a hardcore gamer but yet, his subclass level was at 71 before this happened."

Everyone in the room gaped in shock.

"Level 71? What a monster!" Gold Digger screeched. "Nobody could've guessed that!"

Runic Night grinned. "Yeah, he's probably a Swordsmaster by now. He usually hides behind his Cleric class to let people think he's weak and then he slaughters them brutally."

"I'm beginning to count my blessings that I'm in the same guild as Raiden." Spring Breeze heaved a sigh of relief. "He's too frightening."

Just then, a message arrived, and swiftly, all members opened it up. With a gasp, they all bolted out of the room and the guild hall, dashing towards the sleeping quarters. Using the Rune on the wall, they were all teleported to the sixth floor, where Kise's room was located.

The hallway was crowded with the other members of the guild, although not all could fit. Chatter and hushed whispers echoed loudly, looks of concern of worry were etched on their faces. Slowly, the door opened and two players of the Healer Class emerged.

"Well, I've done all that I could." Ben said with a sigh.

"Me too." another male said from behind him. He was a Level 36 Bishop with the in-game name "The Underrated Character" but everyone calls him by his given name ―Akinori. "But there's an after-effect of paralysis on his legs. Don't know how long it'll last for, though." he continued.

Everyone gasped upon hearing. They were no strangers to after-effects, a mechanism of the game to stress out affected players. It's similar to debuffs, but instead of losing effect if the caster (be it player or monster) dies or the affected is healed, these after-effects restrict the affected player in the most cumbersome of ways. Thus, players refer to these after-effects as "in-game illnesses".

"So, since you don't know how long it'll last for, can't you at least give an approximation?" Spring Breeze asked.

Ben sighed, "I'd say a week. It's pretty difficult to actually tell, but this poison is a stubborn one." he then added, "Unless we find a high levelled Healer class player or some rare item."

"Can't he use the Shadow Trinket? Doesn't that gradually restore HP, MP and everything while getting rid of debuffs?" Runic Night asked, his voice sounded frantic and worried.

"Possibly. Can't it? It is a rare item." Gold Digger said as he pushed the door and entered the room. Kise slept soundly, looking much better than he did earlier on. The Thief quickly sauntered over to his table and took up the small ornament, placing it around Kise's neck. For minutes they waited, but nothing happened. At one point, Gold Digger got impatient and wanted to take it off, but Akinori made a wise statement:

"Maybe it takes time since this is not a fresh debuff."

Like that, the ash-blond was able to calm down, and he along with Spring Breeze and others headed to the ground floor, to tell what's become of their guild leader. Using a rune on the wall, they swiftly moved to the floor and entered the social area where majority of the guild members (the ones who couldn't fit upstairs) were.

"So, how is he?!" Shameless Illusion asked, frantically.

"Well, he's going to be just fine. It's just that there's an after-effect on his legs." Ben answered.

"Doesn't that mean he's paralysed?" Awesome Singularity screeched in horror.

"It's only on his legs. Not thighs." Akinori deadpanned.

"Legs, thighs, whatever! It still means that he can't walk, right?!"

Hearing this news, Amused Sharpshooter was pretty mad. "Whether legs or thighs, it's all her fault!" he roared. He grabbed Hanae in the collar and spat, "You dumb bitch! Why did you head towards the Worm? Are you an idiot?!" he added, "Common sense should tell you that when Raiden says run, you fucking sprint!"

"I..."

"You what?! Don't tell me that you're sorry! Sorry can't fucking fix him!"

"Chihaya!" Kris shouted and pried his cousin off Hanae. "Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" he barked. "Because of her, Raiden is in this mess!"

"He isn't the only one affected!" Hanae shouted. "I've lost eleven levels too, you know! But you're busy worrying about a dumb cleric!"

Mysterious Hooligan, Shameless Illusion, Runic Night, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger twitched with rage. Amused Sharpshooter tilted his head slightly with his eyes widened.

"This bitch didn't," Amused Sharpshooter said in a calm voice. He looked a bit psychotic here, even brandishing his dual blades from his Warrior subclass. "This fucking bitch didn't just call Raiden "a dumb cleric"."

"That dumb cleric is the same who gave you a home in this fucking catastrophe! A bed! And good food to eat!" Mysterious Hooligan shouted, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on. "Look at this guild! Rai spent his own money so that everyone could be comfortable! Did you put a single dollar to this?! And yet, you have the fucking audacity to call him dumb? He's smarter than you for all I know!"

"He gave you his Lifesaving Brooch to protect you. He could have used it on himself but he didn't." Runic Night hissed.

"Rai isn't _just_ a Cleric, Hanae-chan," Shameless Illusion said a little bit more calmly than her in-game husband. "Rai doesn't just heal, recover stats and buffs his party. He analyses the situation, strategises, and saves our asses with his conjectures. So until you go on a raid or on a dungeon with him, don't you _dare_ call him _dumb._ "

"That's right." Setsurou joined in. "Haven't you ever wondered why top guilds like Goldengarde, Banner Wolves, Crescent Moon and Robust Immortals are hounding for him? As a matter of fact, almost every guild in the city is searching for him to recruit!"

"Alright, alright." Silver said and went in between them. "Enough." his voice was stern and domineering. "We'll never talk about this. We should focus on assisting Raiden-kun in any way possible." Everyone returned to their original positions, but the tension was still there. Wordlessly, Shameless Illusion grabbed Hanae by the arm and hauled her out of there, whispering "We need to talk" to her.

"Anyway, back to the issue at hand," another player spoke up. He was a Swordsman with two katanas sitting perfectly on his hips. His in-game name was "The Active Ancestor" but his given name is Keisei. He was one of the older members of the guild, "Forgiveness of the Fierce", a Mage with his real name being Reiji and "The Invisible Alien", a Ranger with his real name being Fumiaki were his son and nephew respectively.

"Are you sure that it'll last a week? Is there a way to shorten it if we find go find an item?" Keisei asked, his grey eyes had a calm gaze.

"More than likely. But which item would that be?" Tomohito asked. "I can't think of any."

"He already has the Shadow Trinket." Runic Night spoke up. "That's the only rare item I know that has healing properties."

"But if there is, we'll have to more than likely fight a boss for it. Or in the worst case, go on a raid." Mysterious Hooligan said as he pushed himself off the wall. "Rare healing items aren't so easy to come by. And I don't feel comfortable if Rai isn't the Healer of the party."

"Yeah, he's like heroin." Amused Sharpshooter nodded in agreement. "One experience with him as your Healer and you feel like you can't do without him."

"That's a disturbing analogy." King Aiza said as he shivered with laughter.

"Meh. It fits." The Archer shrugged. "Neither of us can let loose if Rai isn't the one having our backs."

"So, what do we do now?" Bronze Legend asked. "If Raiden-san can't use his legs, he isn't going to be up and about right? He's the type who's always doing business or digging up for info."

"Yeah." Ben replied. "What makes it worse, he doesn't have any weapons either. They broke in the fight with the Elf."

"That's horrible! A Swordsman without his weapon is like a sitting duck!" another player gasped. He was tall with dyed hair and black eyes. He had a tongue and numerous ear piercings. His in-game name was "Vendetta of the Brave" but of course, no one calls him that. His given name was Hokuto and he was of the Swordsman class.

"Let's not worry about that for now. As long as Raiden is here, he's safe. We all just need to protect him." Silver said. "Let's focus on what needs to be done."

"I propose a guarding shift." Tomohito said. "Combat class players should all take terms guarding him. Who knows when that motherfucker will strike again?"

"Agreed."

Like that, the mood lightened up a bit but there was still some form of unease lingering.

…

In the social area after everyone had left, Yahiko and Beniha whose in-game is Thunder of the Meek sat around a table, seeming to be discussing something. They were the only ones present, since the others have either returned to their work, some went to level, etc.

"When Ben said that Raiden's Katana broke, I was thinking of getting him a new set." Yahiko started. "Made from scratch of course."

"I was thinking of making him a wheelchair." Beniha said with folded arms. "I doubt he's going to want to be cooped up in his room until this blows over."

Yahiko nodded. She was right, players didn't like to be stuck in one place for too long. Even on a journey to a boss area, it becomes pretty irritating and annoying to go through the same area numerous times. So, it must be agonizing to be paralysed and not being able to even move from bed.

"Rakka specializes in swordsmithing, I'm sure he can make two great katana for Raiden." Yahiko grinned.

"Nishiki can make a chair, and anyone can make wheels." Beniha said.

"But we'll need to get the metals." he tapped his chin with his index in thought. "I know the perfect place, but it's pretty high levelled. About level 43."

"Why can't we ask Ayato, Daisuke, Mei and Chihaya?" Beniha suggested. "They are the strongest players here and are above level 43."

"That's not a bad idea. Let me message them."

A couple minutes after, Runic Night, Mysterious Hooligan, Shameless Illusion and Amused Sharpshooter arrived, all suited in their combat armours. Although Yahiko only briefed them of the plans, they came prepared, ready to go the same instant.

"We're just going to collect some metals, no need to be so worked up." Yahiko calmed. "If we can avoid monsters, we'll do that. This isn't a fighting quest."

Beniha sighed. "Combat class players...all that's in their heads is fighting."

"So what?" Amused Sharpshooter huffed. "Hence the name "Combat class"."

"So when can we leave?" Runic Night asked. "The quicker we go, the quicker Raiden can get his weapons and move about."

"I doubt he's going to want to be in a wheelchair though. If this incident gets to him psychologically, he'll be cooped up in his room wallowing." Amused Sharpshooter said, his tone and face were all laced with worry. "Or he gets crabby. And a crabby Raiden is worse than Unseen Nightmare."

"That's why we should get going before he wakes up." Mysterious Hooligan said. "I sure as hell can't manage _that_."

At that very moment, they heard a blood curdling scream reverberating throughout the walls. Wordlessly, they moved off, checking each floor for the cause.

_xx_

After the battle between Kise and Unseen Nightmare, the spectators couldn't believe their eyes nor ears. Seeing their teammate, friend, son and brother in action left them awestruck, but upon hearing the thoughts of Unseen Nightmare, it felt as though they were steadily climbing in solving this mystery.

_[Damn! Did I actually made the Cleric class this powerful?!]_

That alone was enough to indicate who was the player behind Unseen Nightmare. Without a doubt, it must've been Yoshikawa Masamune, since he's the one who created the game. But when Akashi reflected back on what Kise had mused about earlier, it's a possibility that Yoshikawa isn't the one who created the game after all.

Still, Nakamura informed his brother about their discovery, and he promised to tell the Virtual Division about it even though he knew that there was already a team watching Kise and his guildmates.

_Kise's eyes fluttered open to meet a familiar ceiling. Propping himself up onto his elbows, he realized that he was back in his room. He couldn't remember what happened after he lost consciousness, but looking at his status, he exhaled a sigh relief that he didn't die. However, he remembered something._

_He lost both his katana._

_Kise let out a groan, "The price of one katana probably has risen sky high by now. Imagine two..." he sighed, "I'm going to be left broke."_

_Flinging off the sheets and swinging his feet to the side, Kise made an attempt to stand up. However, the moment he did so, his feet gave way and sent the blond crashing to the floor in a loud thud. It was then that he noticed...he couldn't feel his toes. Better yet, after touching his feet, he found that there was loss of sensation below his knees. He stared at his legs with widened eyes when his lips started to tremble._

"It's coming." Ryouhei said to the others as if warning them of incoming danger. "I suggest you cover your ears or leave the room." As he said this, the entire family got up and left the room, leaving the teams to wonder what he was talking about.

_Kise let out a blood curdling scream which seemed to resonate throughout the entire guild yard. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he wailed, the volume of his cries getting louder and louder._

Thinking that their ears may start bleeding, everyone dashed out of the room and into the hall where the rest of the family were. Ryouhei gave them a pitiful look, "I warned you." he sighed. "Remember, I'm his father, I know when he's going to cry and how loud he gets."

"We've gotten numerous complains from neighbours when he was younger." Ritsuko chuckled in amusement. "Ah...those nights were like torment."

"Human beings shouldn't have a high pitched voice like that!" Moriyama said, covering his ears. "He's a male for God's sake!"

" _Freeze!" Runic Night and Amused Sharpshooter burst through the door shouting. Both had their weapons in hand, ready to fight whoever the intruder was. But, the problem was, there was none. Mysterious Hooligan and Shameless Illusion were behind them, Yahiko and Beniha stood at the door. The other guild members were on high alert as well, searching for a (non-existent) intruder._

" _Rai! What's the matter?!" Amused Sharpshooter asked in worry as he headed to Kise who seemed to be panicking. Runic Night went over to the window to have one last look to make sure there really wasn't anyone here._

" _My legs..." Kise mumbled out through sniffs as he used "Cleansing Touch" continually on his lower limbs._

" _Rai..." Amused Sharpshooter started but found it hard to break it to the young blond. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he finally said, "It's an after-effect of paralysis. You're estimated to get over it in a week or so."_

_A heavy silence hung in the air. Kise said nothing, nor did he look up at his friends. He just stared at his feet in disbelief. Runic Night wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn't allow him. Maybe it was for the best, as nothing said right now could cheer up Kise._

" _I...see..." he managed to choke out, covering his face with his hands. His shoulders shook and a whimper could be heard echoing. Wordlessly, Runic Night scooped him up like a bride and placed him back on his bed. "You'll get through this because we're here to help." he wanted to smile here, but he knew he shouldn't force it. He's known Kise for far too long to not realize how perceptive he actually is._

" _So...do you...umm..." Amused Sharpshooter started, wanting to get rid of this stifling atmosphere. "...want anything?"_

" _No." was Kise's curt response._

_Amused Sharpshooter nor Runic Night said anything more, as they could clearly tell that Kise was not in the mood. Hell, after realizing that his legs were now useless, they doubt anyone would be. The blond curled up underneath his sheets, trembling with sorrow._

" _But, if you need anything, hit up anyone from the guild." Mysterious Hooligan said as he opened the door._

" _Yeah, don't be afraid, or stay here drowning in sorrow." Runic Night added._

_The two silently left, knowing that Kise needed to be alone._

Kise's family were tearing up. Hearing that such a tragic thing had befallen their son and brother was enough to set the family off. Ryouhei felt it more than the others, since Kise was closer to him than anyone else. It was extremely painful to see his vibrant son reduced to...to... _that._ He couldn't even find the right word.

_The blond boy curled underneath his bed-sheets, sobbing quite loudly. His trembling could be seen even though he completely covered his body. Kise was shaken by this ordeal. He's known about after-effects, he's seen players affected by them, but he's never seen one like this. When Amused Sharpshooter told him that he was paralysed, he didn't know what to say ―more like, he couldn't say anything._

" _Don't worry Ryouta, this is not the real world. This is not the real world. This is not the real world." Kise chanted over and over again in order to provide himself some peace. To see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. But, it didn't work. Unable to fight it, Kise broke down in tears once again, this time, no one to comfort him._

At this point in time, Ryouhei felt the urge to purchase the game and a NerveGear just to comfort his son. He didn't have to play the game or anything, he just wanted to be there for Kise, to offer support in his darkest hour. But sadly, due to this incident, SuperSonic has removed Arcanum from the shelves preventing anyone from purchasing. Even the players who hadn't been caught up in it were urged to not log in. The man's heart was aching and when he looked across to his wife and daughters, he saw that they were in a similar state. Both Ruiko and Reiko were extremely overprotective of their little brother, although Reiko was just three years older than the boy. Ritsuko was constantly wiping her tears.

"Fuck! I say we force SuperSonic to give us the damn game!" Ruiko screeched. "My baby brother needs comforting!"

Seirin, Kaijou and the Miracles inched away from the family, not wanting to caught up in their schemes. But, they did understand the Kise family's feelings. It was unnerving to see him like this, especially when he didn't deserve it. The blond boy was broken, sad…

They weren't able to stand any more of this, so they got up and left the room. Of course, there was a camera recording what was going on, so in case something happened that they missed.

Down in the living room, the teams were discussing, trying to let out their emotions.

"Man, I hate seeing him like this." Moriyama mumbled angrily. "He's so vulnerable right now. What if that psycho attacks him there!?"

Kasamatsu frowned. "As much as I hate the Elf, I don't think he's _that_ dumb. Kise is inside his guild yard where not only his fellow guildmates are, but other players who are making purchases as well. He can't risk attacking him there since he's on _everyone's_ hitlist."

"Kasamatsu-san is right. The moment the other players sees him, they'll all attack him. No matter how strong he is, he can't take on that many players at once." Akashi reasoned. "For now, Ryouta is safe."

"Hmm...Kise-chin is strong, so I think the Elf won't be able to beat him like before." Murasakibara added while munching on his chips.

"For once I actually agree with you." Midorima said, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge.

"Exactly. And Kise-kun seems like the type who'll go back to the drawing board to improve on what he's lacking now that he's been beaten." Riko joined in. "I think we don't need to worry about him just yet."

"What we need to worry about is our own lives." Hyuuga mumbled. "This family is crazy."

"They're just overly affectionate, Hyuuga." Izuki sighed.

"It's that what you call affectionate, I wouldn't want to see when they're uncaring." the captain shivered.

"I still wonder how come Haizaki is still alive after that match." Koganei piped up. "I mean, he seemed like he wanted to crush Kise's foot."

"I know right!" Kagami said. "And judging by their personalities, I'm pretty sure that they watched the match."

The others nodded in agreement.

Turning on the TV, they listened to the latest updates from the police to see if they've made any progress. They planned to interrogate Yoshikawa Masamune given the fight between the Elf and Kise (which they decided to show the public). But that just set off the entire nation, Kise's fangirls flaming SuperSonic, Yoshikawa and Hanae, others are simply wondering why SuperSonic hasn't done something about the Elf.

But there were lots of questions, most (if not all) centred around "Raiden". Why did he feel pain? Why did he bleed? And why did his clothes become tattered as though he wasn't in a virtual world? Many critics voice out their opinions, but all came to the same conclusion that it _should_ be _impossible_.

This worried Kise's family even more, and without hitch, Ryouhei left to check on his son's body.

_..._

After everything was done for the day, the teams left and headed home. Although everyone walked in the same direction for the train station, no one said a word. It would be difficult to strike up a conversation after seeing _that_ and as such, everyone kept silent. Even the fiery and outspoken Aomine and Kagami were reduced to silence, although their faces were laced with anger.

**...**

"I'm home." Midorima said as he entered his house. His parents replied from the living room, they had been watching TV and his little sister was asleep in her room. There was a look of concern on their faces, since they knew what happened to Kise. Although their son would never admit it, but Kise was actually the green-haired shooter's friend. Sure, they didn't have the best friendship, but nevertheless, they were _friends._

"I'm sorry about Kise-kun." His mother began, opening her arms wide to hug her son. He was towering over her, but she didn't mind. "I'm sure that the police will save not just him, but all the players trapped."

"Kise's alright, Mom." Midorima said calmly. "Even death finds him repulsive."

Midorima's father chuckled at this. While his mother may not have been able to notice, but he could read the boy like an open book most times. And at this moment, the older man could see the worry in his son's eyes. Plus, he's been going to Kise's house everyday ever since this incident happened. If he didn't see him as friend, then why would he continue?

"I'm going to my room. I'm tired." Midorima said with a strain. He released his mother and walked up to his room. He dropped himself onto the bed and laid on his back with his face in the crook of his arm. It was disconcerting. Kise was trapped in a virtual world, trying to make the best of the horrid situation. Somehow, he was actually amazed at his blond friend, being able to continue on without breaking.

He knew that if he were in that situation, he'd probably be a mess. Forget starting a guild and being able to inspire other players that there is meaning and hope in the virtual world, Midorima knew he wouldn't have been able to even last. It opened his eyes a little bit concerning the blond, realizing that there was more to Kise than meets the eye.

Although he and Kise weren't really the best of friends, he still saw the annoying blond as an associate. He would never admit it, but he was extremely worried for Kise. He then turned on his cellphone, and was shocked to see his phone loaded with messages and missed calls.

They were from his teammates as he didn't give out his contact info to anyone else. Ootsubo and Kimura sent encouraging words, Miyaji tried to comfort him with a voice message, and Takao…he left a million messages that Midorima didn't even bother to read at the moment. He knew the point guard was just worried, but…

His thoughts trailed off as his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that it was Takao. He answered the phone.

" _Shin-chan! I've been trying to get through to you!"_

"I can see that, Takao."

" _So how are you holding up? If you wanna cry I can offer my shoulder."_

"Why would I ―?"

" _Stop being such a tsundere, Shin-chan."_ Takao said, his voice was serious. _"We've seen the battle. I admit, Kise was pretty badass, but what happened to him has even left me shaken. If_ I _feel this way, then I can't imagine what you're going through."_

"I ―" Midorima cut himself off. The hawk-eyed boy was right and the shooter couldn't fight it anymore.

" _Alright. I'm coming over. Gimme fifteen minutes."_ Takao said solemnly. _"Until then, keep your tear ducts under control!"_

"Die."

...

Their walk home was a quiet one.

For as long as they knew each other, Aomine and Momoi had always found something to talk about on their way home. Even if they were arguing with each other, they were still conversing. But this time…this time, they were rendered speechless. What happened (and what's _been happening)_ to Kise was enough to leave anyone dumbstruck.

Momoi had always been close to the golden boy, being that their personalities are somewhat similar. Out of the group, both Momoi and Kise were the ones who had a vibrant and lively nature about them. Even when the Miracles' friendship had become strained and everyone seemed like an enemy, Kise and Momoi still kept in contact and carried on with their antics (just not around the others).

Seeing him ending up in such a state was shocking, and knowing that there was someone out there who was after his life is fearsome. And she realized that even if she went home, there's a possibility that she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Not until Kise was out of the game and Unseen Nightmare is caught and arrested.

With a glance in Momoi's direction, Aomine saw how despondent his childhood friend looked. Although basketball is the only thing in his head, he knew that saying anything to her will _not_ make her better ―will not make this situation better. So, he decided to try the universal way of offering comfort.

He hugged her.

At this moment, Momoi was shocked by his sudden show of affection. It wasn't that Aomine had a heart of ice, but this was out of character. Still, she didn't mind it.

"Will Ki-chan be alright?" The pink haired girl ended up asking. Her face was buried in his chest.

"Of course. It's Kise we're talking about. You've seen how badass he is." Aomine said, but there was a part of him that was wondering the same thing.

"But that Elf managed to do that to him. I thought he was going to die." Momoi couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears flowed out and she sobbed into his shirt, effectively soaking the area.

"That's because the Elf is a cheat." he responded. Add to that, even with Kise's copy ability, due to his class and subclass, he won't be able to recreate any moves if it isn't from the Cleric or Swordsman class. With simply means, Kise had to get original.

Aomine was deeply saddened by all this.

Aside from his family, Kaijou knew that Kise was a gamer, but he didn't. Hell, no one did. Not even Akashi. And now, they couldn't offer any help, since neither of them knew about VRMMORPGs. In their heads were basketball and schoolwork with the latter being on the back-burner. It was hard to follow with the players sometimes, especially when they spoke with gaming terminologies. Buffs, debuffs, noobs, PvP...all these fancy words had to be decoded by Kasamatsu or someone ―someone from Kaijou.

His mind began to wonder if Kise will ever be able to come out of the game. Better yet, will he escape the game before their high school lives are over? Will the police actually solve this crisis in time for them to be able to play against each other like in Inter-High? Aomine knew he was being selfish, hell he was a human being, but he couldn't help it. Kise loved basketball (maybe not as much as he does) and would still love to be able to play it.

 _Stay safe, Kise._ Aomine thought as he rubbed Momoi's back.

…

Akashi lied on his back facing the ceiling. Like everyone else, he was worried about Kise. The blond boy was always seen as annoying and irritating, but now, Akashi realized that he was always the one who kept their group lively. What Ryouhei said was really true ―Kise was the Sun's child. He was always smiling, always laughing, always as radiant as the sun itself. There was never a dull moment with Kise around, be it his whining to Aomine for a one-on-one, or to Kuroko for... _something,_ it varied each time.

But, now, he's trapped inside a game with no way out.

Akashi didn't know what to do.

There was someone after Kise's life and there was nothing he could do but watch and hope that the blond will be alright. Akashi cursed his powerlessness, and wished that he could have done something ― _anything_ to help. But he was just sixteen, what could he possibly do? He didn't even know the basic workings of a simple platformer game let alone something as complex and intricate as a VRMMORPG.

In addition to that, with Kise's face plastered everywhere in the real world, who's to tell if the player behind Unseen Nightmare won't try to kill him physically? This has been gnawing at him ever since Kise fought the Elf and he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep in peace.

Even if he were to speak to his father, what could he do? Moving Kise's body from the hospital wasn't an option since he already has his own room and was well taken care of. Ryouhei owned a publishing house and Ritsuko was some high ranking personnel in some modelling company. The only thing Akashi could try was to uncover Unseen Nightmare. Well, the police now believed that Yoshikawa Masamune could have some answers, as according to them, there's a high possibility that the Elf is someone else.

"I'm going to have a headache." he mumbled as he turned on his sides. He looked at his phone's screen and sighed. It had been on silent all this time, but there were millions of messages from his team. Hayama and Mibuchi especially. "Stay safe, Ryouta."

…

Murasakibara didn't eat his dinner.

The moment he reached home, he headed straight to his room, and curled up on his bed. He had been staying at his eldest brother's house ever since. His brother ―Atsuhiko knew about Kise and tried to cheer up the purple-haired giant. Sweets ―be it pastries or candies, Murasakibara declined them all, and at this moment, Atsuhiko got worried for his little brother.

"Atsushi, call me if you need anything, okay?" Atsuhiko said as he left the room.

"Hmm..." Murasakibara drawled.

Like the others, he was worried for Kise's safety. Although the blond was powerful in-game, the Elf is stronger. And while even if players died they revived, there is a chance that if Unseen Nightmare is the killer, there's no coming back. If Kise gets killed by the Elf, God knows what's going to happen.

Even the players who were supposedly "killed" by the Elf, police couldn't find where they were. Their computer screens were completely blacked out, and their bodies are said to have fallen in a comatose-like state. He wanted to rip Kise from out of that world, but sadly, that's not humanly possible. Just then, his phone rang, and he saw Tatsuya's picture pop up.

"Muro-chin? What's it?" he answered in his usual lazy drawl.

" _Atsushi,_ _how are you holding up?"_ Tatsuya asked him. _"I watched the News, and well, what happened with Kise is...quite umm..."_

"I don't think I'm alright." the centre answered truthfully, sounding like he was about to cry. "Kise-chin was almost killed in front of my eyes and I couldn't do anything. I could only watch."

" _I know. It's pretty heartbreaking. I can't sympathize with you because I don't know Kise as well as you do nor do I have someone trapped in there."_

"Do you think Kise-chin will be alright?"

" _I don't know how these games work, but with the help of his friends, I'm sure he'll be just fine."_

"I hope so, Muro-chin. I hope so." he said almost in a whimper. But there was a bad feeling in the pits of his stomach, and he prayed that it was just hunger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	10. Aftermath II

Chapter 10

…

Engaged in a heated match at a street court were none other than the Blue Elites of Kaijou. However, neither of them were the least bit having fun. Their friend and ace was almost "killed" in-game right before their eyes, and they couldn't do anything. What's worse, if Unseen Nightmare had been successful, Kise would be in a coma right now.

It ached their hearts to no end, and the only way they could think of ridding this frustration and anger was through basketball. And even though Kasamatsu, Moriyama and Kobori were supposed to be focusing on University Entrance Exams, they didn't care about it any at all. Their ace was _far_ more important.

Kise was vibrant and always a livening up everywhere he went. Seeing him reduced to a shadow of his former self is heart-wrenching. Hearing his sobs were awful, seeing him cry and in so much pain was terrible...seeing him so broken was almost akin to seeing him in a casket.

"Shit! There must be something we can do!" Moriyama snapped as he made a three. "I can't stand this!"

"Well, the only thing I see we can do, is what Ryouhei-san suggested." Kobori said as he retrieved the ball. "And that's impossible." He then bounce-passed the ball to Kasamatsu who stopped and stilled.

"Couldn't they record us saying something encouraging to him and then have the detectives give it to him or something?" the point guard joined in, dribbling on the spot. "At least...at least he'll hear us and it'll probably cheer him up."

"That's a good idea, but _how_ will we get to SuperSonic?" Nakamura asked, catching the ball that Kasamatsu passed him. "Aren't they like, swarming with police?"

The other boys gawked at him with a raised brow.

"Aren't you the one whose elder brother is an officer?" Hayakawa said, his words perfectly formed since he was not fired up.

Nakamura scoffed, "He's only twenty-two and a _junior_ officer."

"But he's still an _officer_ , right?" Kobori said. "Plus, he was the one who made the police find out about the game being showed on the computers. So, he must be able to do something."

"Guys," Hayakawa spoke up, "Can't we just go with Ruiko-san's idea? Storm the place with angry shouts and placards."

The others stared blankly at the power forward like he was an idiot. With a sigh, the team resigned to the bench, gazing up at the sky. It was late, the sun already gone down, the stars and moon starting to peek out. Silence befell them as none knew what to say, and in times like these, they deeply missed their ace. If he was here, he'd know what to chat about, he'd know how to liven them up…

_If Kise was here._

They were unable to hold it in, and as such, the tears burst forth. Kasamatsu held his head down, resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead on the back on his hands. He doubled his lips but when he heard Moriyama and Hayakawa's sobs, he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to force back the tears.

"Guys, I think we should really storm SuperSonic with Kise's psychotic family." Kasamatsu finally choked out. "I don't think I can manage seeing Kise broken again tomorrow."

The others nodded in agreement as they wiped their tears.

…

In Maji's, the Seirin team ate their food in awkward silence. They were always a lively bunch, but this time, not a soul spoke. It was so silent at their booth that if one listened keenly, they could hear the food crunching in their mouths as they chew. The mood was a solemn one, but Kuroko was the most affected by all this. The entire team knew but nothing said could cheer up the light-blue haired teen.

Sure, Kise and Kuroko weren't close like he had been with Aomine or is with Kagami currently, but the two still had a _friendship_. Kuroko sipped on his milkshake absent-mindedly, looking through the window. He was thinking of his days in middle school, and how he hated ―admired Kise for being able to do what he couldn't…

And even now, Kise was sill amazing and he wasn't even on a basketball court.

Although the blond had refused to be Guild Leader earlier on, he was doing a really good job. He managed to get his players comfortable, and take their minds off the fact that they were trapped within a game they loved. Kise was able to keep a level head in dire situations, and lead his players accordingly. Kuroko was sure that that was something he wouldn't have been able to do.

Kuroko never knew that a side to Kise such as this existed, as the blond sometimes acted a bit airheaded and irritating. But now, he realized that maybe Kise hid a part of who he truly is. He remembered when Runic Night or one of them saying that Kise was extremely perceptive. He figured that maybe, Kise saw their group as ―Akashi always being serious, Midorima was prim and proper, Murasakibara only munched on snacks and drawled every syllable, Aomine was rowdy, Kuroko himself was quiet yet blunt…

...Kise more than likely saw that their group needed a little life and he decided to be that _life._ Always bouncing with joy, always grinning which puts the sun to shame, always planning some activity for them to hang out together ―be it shopping or movies…

Kuroko never realized that how much Kise meant to him.

He then excused himself and headed to the bathroom. The tears were coming and he didn't want to break down and cry in front of his team.

"Come back safely, Kise-kun." he sobbed.

...

Once again, the teams headed for Kise's house (Takao tagging along with Midorima), hoping that their blond friend was a little bit better today. Though, deep down, they knew that there was no way someone could bounce back from something as devastating as that. But as everyone met up, Takao noticed that they had bags under their eyes.

It was a sight to behold, but it was clear that no one slept. Or even if they did, barely.

Reaching the blond's house ―or rather, the avenue where his house was located, the teams noticed that there was a large crowd at Kise's gate. Seeing the large cameras, the microphones and the vans with electrical wiring running from them across the street, the teens knew that these people were more than likely news journalists or paparazzi due to Kise being in the modelling industry.

Plus, with the police showing the entire nation what happens within the game and Kise has been the most productive out of all, media houses wanted to know how the blond's family was holding up upon seeing that he was almost "killed".

"How will we get pass _that_?" Tsuchida asked, dragging a hand over his tired face. He seemed like he wanted to wipe the tiredness and sleep from his face.

"I'm here wondering the same thing." Takao whistled. "If we get too close, they'll mob us for answers to their questions."

"Don't worry, we're athletic." Kobori said with a small smile. "All we have to do is climb over the fence and enter through the back door."

"Excuse me?" Both Riko and Momoi said with raised brows.

"Oh right, we have two ladies with us," Moriyama started. "Don't worry, I will assist you both!"

Kagami snorted. "We have one lady and an ogre." he mumbled beneath his breath. However, Riko was still able to hear it. Dark aura seeped out of her body in waves, but she didn't attack the redheaded ace. She was too tired. But, that didn't mean Kagami wouldn't receive punishment in later days.

So, following Kobori's plan, the teens headed to the wall (thank God Kise had a large yard space), Aomine and Kagami hopped over first after which Murasakibara aided Riko and Momoi over. The two girls fell over into Kagami and Aomine's waiting arms, the others swiftly made their way over although Midorima was disagreeing that this act was unsightly and Takao cracking up as he watched his ace scale the wall while gingerly holding onto his lucky item.

Entering the Kise house, both Takao and Izuki were the ones who noticed that even Kise's family looked awful. Dishevelled hairs, dark circles underneath the eyes, pale skin, everything that they could think of. But then they frowned, even though they looked awful, they still managed to retain their beauty. How did they do it? Both point guards left it at genes.

 _It must be really terrifying to see family going through that._ Was the unison thoughts of teens present. All three females were present, Ryouhei was strangely absent. When Kobori asked Ritsuko where he was, she replied saying that her husband hasn't left her son's side. They then headed up to the blond's house and took their seats.

_Kise was sitting up in his bed._

_Like his family in the real world, he looked absolutely awful. His neat blond hair was now sticking up in all sorts of directions, his usual bright eyes were dull and lifeless. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, which would indicate that he hadn't slept. Without a better word, Kise looked like absolute shit. There were moments that he winced and groaned, at this time, he leaned forward and rubbed his legs. His hands glowed with a faint yellow light after which something that resembled a magic circle appeared on both legs. However, after a couple minutes, Kise looked as though he resigned in defeat._

" _It hurts." he groaned out. "It hurts, it hurts, so much." Tears were threatening to fall so the blond quickly wiped his face._ _He curled up underneath his sheets and closed his eyes._

Seeing this, everyone in the room was moved to tears once again. The blond was in pain but there was no one to offer him comfort. Ruiko and Reiko were livid, even making plans to really go to SuperSonic.

_Knock. Knock._

_A soft rapt came from the door followed by a voice, "Raiden-kun, can I come in?" Being around this person for so long, Kise knew who it was ―Awesome Singularity._

" _No." he replied, his voice sounding more like a groan than anything else._

_She pushed the door and entered anyway, dressed down into a simple shorts and t-shirt with slippers since she was at home. Kise was not amused._

" _I thought I said that you couldn't come in." he said between gritted teeth._

" _Yes, you did. But I was told by Chihaya-kun and Daisuke-kun to come here even if you say no."_

" _Those shitty bastards." He snarled angrily. He then lowered the sheet to expose his entire face and asked, "So, what are you doing here then?"_

_She shook her head and turned her face away from him. Seeing his haggard look made her feel even worse. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help you."_

_Kise sighed. "You did help me take down the Worm boss. Both you and Setsurou." he said, "Have you forgotten?"_

" _But you had to face the Elf on your own! And the Lamia! And I…!" She turned her face away from him again._

" _You shouldn't be sorry." Kise said, in hopes of soothing her. "At least you stayed out of the way when you were told to. Thanks to that, I could rest easy knowing that at least one of us hadn't been caught."_

" _Is that true?"_

" _Yes." he drawled. He then covered his eyes with the sheets as he could feel the tears stinging his eyes. He was still down about the effect on his legs and wondered if he got information on the two bosses, maybe he'll find a way to lift the effect off his feet quicker. But the problem was that he couldn't move. There wasn't even any cooldown on the damn thing either. Suddenly, the sheet was viciously yanked off him, Kise's eyes widened at the sudden exposure._

" _Give it back!" he barked._

_Awesome Singularity stared at him. Kise couldn't tell what she was thinking, but the gaze in her eyes were very much different that couple seconds ago._

" _Not yet. At least sit up. You can't hide under your sheets forever." she reasoned. But unbeknownst to Kise, she had noticed him wincing and the awkward way he was speaking. Now that the sheet was off, she could see him shivering from the pain._

" _Yes I can." Kise mumbled and covered his face with the pillow. "Now give me back my sheet and get out."_

_Awesome Singularity smirked. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here until you get better."_

" _Why?" his voice cracked._

" _Because, you're in this mess because you tried to protect us. And you've done so much for this guild that I don't think any of us can repay."_

" _So what?" Kise snapped. "You don't understand. I feel so useless. I couldn't protect anyone before, and now, I'm the one who needs protection. What if something happens?"_

" _So you think we'll sit by and let you be killed?" She snorted._

" _No...but I don't want to be a burden to anyone." he murmured._

_Awesome Singularity sighed. This was getting tough. She had no way of sympathizing or cheering up someone who's affected with such an after-effect; hell, she's never encountered any player affected with an after-effect before._

" _You won't be." She finally said. "Before you know it, a week will fly by quickly." She then placed the sheet over him when she noticed something odd about his legs that she didn't earlier. There were thin green lines on them._

" _Raiden-kun, you're feeling pain, aren't you?"_

_There was a long pause before Kise answered, "No."_

_But she caught the look on his face and saw that he was actually gritting his teeth. "You're lying aren't you?"_

" _So what if it hurts? What are you going to do about it?" he asked._

" _We could get Ben-kun, or Akinori-kun or Chie-chan ―"_

_Kise cut her off, "If my Purification isn't working, nothing they can do will be of any use."_

" _But you can't stay like this!" she screeched. "You're suffering!"_

" _Before I know it, a week will fly by quickly right? Your words, not mine." Kise tried to smile here but failed miserably. Awesome Singularity felt her heart breaking. Her guild leader was in so much pain that his body was trembling ―that he had to speak while gritting his teeth and she couldn't do shit._

_She couldn't hold it any more. Awesome Singularity broke out in tears, stunning Kise. Seeing females cry was one of his weaknesses, so Kise immediately flew up with a worried look on his face._

" _What's ―what's wrong?" he struggled to ask._

" _I can't do anything. You're suffering before me and I can't do anything."_

" _No one can." Kise said ruffling her black hair. "So stop crying, you'll get wrinkles on your pretty face."_

" _But I ―"_

" _Calm down." Kise said, in a serious tone. "It's not your fault. After-effects aren't easily treated, remember?" Awesome Singularity turned away her face, the tears still threatening to fall. Reaching his last straw, Kise then said, "If you continue with this negative vibe, I'll throw your ass out of here. You're supposed to be the one cheering me up, not the other way around."_

" _H-hai!"_

_Then, they heard chatter echoing close by, coming from the direction of the door after which a shout was heard,_

" _You shits! You can't be making a racket outside his door!"_

 _Kise twitched. He didn't want to see anyone. Awesome Singularity was enough. He was shaken by this whole ordeal, and was vexed that he couldn't move. Add to that, his legs were throbbing painfully, almost like someone was using a jackhammer on his legs. He was someone who liked to be up and about, who liked to move from one place to the next ―he was a free spirit. Someone who absolutely detests being_ tied down. _He could hear the worrisome chatter of his guildmates outside his door, and he knew that they were all concerned about him. He didn't like that._

_Awesome Singularity headed to the door and said something to those outside before turning back to Kise, "Raiden-kun, you have visitors. Wanna see them?"_

" _No." he said, barely in a whisper. For them to see their Guild Leader in such a state must be morale shattering._

" _WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "NO"!?" A roar came as the door was banged open, Awesome Singularity jumping to the side to avoid it._

" _Oi! Chihaya! Ayato!" Mysterious Hooligan barked as he grabbed the Archer and Warrior pulling them back out. "You can't do that!"_

_Amused Sharpshooter wrestled and tried to worm his way out of Mysterious Hooligan's grip while Runic Night was unbuttoning his shirt to escape. Seeing this, Kise buffed the Swordsman with "Aura of the Strong" to help him get the two boys out. Kise heard the door shut and heaved a sigh. He really wasn't in the frame of mind to see anyone._

" _Rai!" Amused Sharpshooter shouted from behind the closed door. His tone was serious, much more different than when he shouted earlier. "I know you don't want to see anyone ―!"_

" _Then why the fuck are you here?!" the blond snapped, cutting him off. He was pretty much annoyed by the fact that his legs feel like they were being sawed off his thighs._

_Kise could literally hear the grin in his voice, "Because I'm an asshole. I don't care about whether or not you want any visitors, I'll still come. And each time, I'll bring a fucking entourage."_

" _That's right!" Runic Night agreed. "Now let us in!"_

_Kise groaned, Awesome Singularity giggled. He knew the two were like this, but he figured that they just wanted him to feel better, or provide some sort of distraction._

" _You idiots! You can't tell him that!" Mysterious Hooligan said as he swatted them on the head. "Now every time we come here, he'll be on guard!"_

_Kise sighed. Shutting everyone out was probably a bad idea but he still needed time. The only reason why Awesome Singularity is still here is because she was a stubborn one. He opened up his friends lists and phoned the Archer._

" _Thanks for coming, but I really can't see anyone right now. I'm sorry." Kise said, voice almost cracking. "I can't."_

" _Rai..." Amused Sharpshooter started, "Eisaku-san said that you're having withdrawal syndrome. You can't stay like this or else you'll deteriorate."_

_Kise flinched. "But I ―"_

" _Hear what, I'll hold off with my entourage, but you have to talk with others, ne?"_

" _I ―"_

" _Yosh! Hear that guys!? Rai will see us one by one!"_

_Kise ended the call right there and rolled onto his back. That Archer was unbelievable, but then a small chuckle escaped his lips. Still, that was short lived as the door bust open and in sauntered Amused Sharpshooter, Yahiko and Mysterious Hooligan._

" _You're a persistent bastard, aren't you?" Kise growled._

" _Of course." Amused Sharpshooter grinned as he attempted to flip his curly black hair. Mysterious Hooligan and Yahiko only shook their heads at the Archer's behaviour._

_Then, silence engulfed them, the air seeming to get heavy. Mysterious Hooligan then spoke, hoping to liven Kise up._

" _Cheer up, Rai. We'll help you get through this." he said._

 _Kise snorted. "You guys can do so much and no more. I want my Papacchi. I want to hear his comforting words, I want to cry into his shoulders as he rubs my back..." Kise sobbed, "I want_ him _to tell me it's going to be alright."_

_Amused Sharpshooter sighed. "As much as that'd be perfect, we're all you've got. Kris said that Arcanum was removed from the shelves. So, your Papa can't come in here."_

" _But maybe when they return to the real world, the company could work something out." Awesome Singularity piped in. "Who knows?"_

_Kise sighed. "Figures." He then rose up, and stretched for his table ―more like paper and ink. Mysterious Hooligan saw and told him to sit back while he retrieved the things. He held them and gave Kise a "Tell me and I'll write for you" look._

" _I can use my hands, you know?" Kise frowned._

" _So?" Mysterious Hooligan shrugged, not caring. He then tapped the feather on the paper, prompting him to start talking. "So?"_

_This got them a chuckle from the blond. "I want to find out about the Blue Traced Worm and Lamia. Especially the Lamia's poison. Effects and everything, maybe there's a way to recover faster."_

" _Hmmm..." Mysterious Hooligan hummed as he scribbled, Amused Sharpshooter and Yahiko recalling the things he forgot. "Got it."_

" _Secondly, I want you to go to Goldengarde and ask Hyperion how long his fever after-effect lasted for. Also, ask around for any other victims of after-effects and how long they lasted for or what they did to alleviate it."_

_Yahiko sighed. "Even though you can't walk, you still find a way to be busy, don't you?"_

" _Of course!"_

_Amused Sharpshooter nodded. "It's Rai. When he wants something, only SuperSonic could stop him." he then turned to Kise and asked, "That's it?"_

" _Yeah..." Kise said faintly, rubbing his eyes. "Get it done quickly, please? I can't stand this."_

" _Well, we're accompanying Yahiko and some Weaponsmiths and Craftsmen to get some materials, so_ we _can't do this. We'll get another set."_

" _Yeah, my Weaponsmiths need some metal." Yahiko added, but when he saw that Kise was about to say something, he continued, "And we don't want the ones from an NPC store."_

_Kise sighed. "Cross out the visit to Goldengarde. I don't want that shit to know I'm guild leader. If I send someone who he's never met, he's going to inquire all sorts of shits and I'm not in the mood."_

" _Ah..." Mysterious Hooligan said nervously when he caught the look on Kise's face. [Rai's moody...not good]._

_However, the blond then perked up, and opened his storage. The Lifesaving Brooch appeared and he removed the Shadow Trinket from his neck._

" _Yahiko, here." Kise said. The raven-haired boy received the items and stared at Kise, Amused Sharpshooter and Mysterious Hooligan raising their eyebrows at this._

" _What's this for?"_

" _Well, it's in case something happens. The Shadow Trinket is a healing item, as long as a player has that on, they can't die."_

" _Unless the Elf attacks them." Amused Sharpshooter added._

_Mysterious Hooligan added, "Or if the attack is powerful enough to kill them in one or two strikes."_

" _And the brooch negates any attack from the user. However, since I'm not wearing it, it's strength is equivalent to the user's level. I'm worried about you, you know?" Kise said with a smile._

 _Yahiko was taken aback. He knew Kise cared for them but he never expected this. These were his only healing items, and they were flipping_ rare. _Every player would really kill to get their hands these and "Raiden" was just lending it to him because he was worried?_

" _What?" Kise asked, when he saw Yahiko staring at him._

" _It's..." he trailed off. "...nothing. Thanks. We'll come back safely."_

" _Alright ―" Mysterious Hooligan broke off abruptly as thundering footsteps and shouts could be heard. The door flew open and players poured in and flocked his bedside before Kise could even blink; Amused Sharpshooter sounding like background music due to him singing "my entourage has arrived!". Everyone spoke at the same time, and Kise had trouble hearing anything._

" _Guys, one at a time, please."_

" _You've...umm..." one started due to the prompt from Amused Sharpshooter. He was a Craftsman, dressed in the standard work clothes. He was tall, but shorter than Kise with coloured hair and brown eyes. The blond Cleric remembered him since Kise had personally recruited him. His in-game name was "Unmatched Creativity" but his given name was "Futoshi"._

" _How should I say this without sounding too mushy?"_

" _We don't have all day!" Mysterious Hooligan hissed, folding his arms and tapping the floor like an impatient mother. "I thought you memorized what you wanted to say from earlier!?"_

_Kise's eyebrows rose, [So they planned this?]_

" _I'm just nervous okay!" the Craftsman barked back. "I don't have an extremely close relationship with him like you guys, you know?"_

" _He doesn't bite!"_

" _But he'll turn me into mince-meat if I piss him off, though!"_

_It was amusing, seeing them like this. A small smile formed on Kise's face as he watched their banter._

" _Well, you've pretty much prevented me from getting depressed." Futoshi said. "When the log out button disappeared, I didn't know what I would have done. But you reached out a hand to me, and gave me a purpose, something to distract myself from the fact that we're trapped here." he turned his face away to hide his embarrassment, "So get well soon."_

_When he said this, he opened up his storage and a huge wooden frame materialized. Inside the frame were numerous hand-written words of encouragement, they were all written haphazardly, some even overlapping._

_Kise rose up to receive it._

" _What's this?" he croaked out. He tried to keep his head down, but the others didn't miss the look on his face. His red, puffy eyes, the dark circles beneath and the haggard look nearly made them tear up._

" _It's a...uh, a get well card. From everyone in the guild." another player spoke up. She has black hair done in a ponytail with dark eyes._

" _Thanks." Kise mumbled. He took it and placed it at his bedside. Other players came up and placed numerous flower crowns on his head and all sorts of things on his table all wishing him "get better soon". Being surrounded by this, Kise tried to blink the tears away, but he failed miserably. This was lovely, but there was a part of him that felt he didn't deserve this._

" _Guys..." Kise started, but he couldn't hold it in. "I can't...Why…?"_

" _Why what?" Silver asked, he was one of the players who came with a gift._

" _I don't deserve all this." Kise said, the tears streaming down his face. "I'm a terrible guild leader...Hanae lost eleven levels, Setsurou almost died...and I couldn't do anything. I can't protect anyone and yet, you all have to protect me..." Kise sobbed. He then mumbled, "Midorimacchi was right, I really am no good. Even the others would have done better..."_

At this moment, Ritsuko, Ruiko and Reiko turned their heads slowly to the green-haired shooter. Midorima could see the dark aura seeping out of their bodies, add to that, they looked wrecked from before...so at the moment, they looked absolutely terrifying. Takao was struggling to contain his laughter seeing that his ace was a dead man.

" _What the fuck?" King Aiza said in disgust. "You're the best guild leader I've met!" he continued, "Other guilds actually rank their players, the leaders themselves have an inner circle which not many people can in to and all sorts of shits! But you! You don't care about those things. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want! You even try your best to make us comfortable, other guilds haven't done that! Their members have to be sleeping in lodges and inns!"_

_Amused Sharpshooter placed a socked foot on Kise's bed, looking pissed. Runic Night stood beside him, looking equally angry. "Where's the fucker?" he spat. "Where is he?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _I said, where is this "Midorimacchi"? There's no way a person who hasn't done what you have, has the right to call you "no good". As long as we, the Amused Sharpshooter ―Watanabe Chihaya and Runic Night_ _ _―Ishida Ayato_ lives, we'll personally show him who's no good."_

_Kise averted his gaze. "But it's true. I'm weak and pathetic and ―"_

" _Are you an idiot?!" Another player shouted, beating Gold Digger to it. He made his way to the front of the crowd, with an angry look on his face. He was an Alchemist with curly black hair and bright brown eyes. His in-game name was "Retribution of Abandonment" but his given name was Ibuki._

" _For someone with such a pretty face, I'm shocked that you lack self-confidence." he sighed. "If you were "no good" you wouldn't be Guild Leader. I'm pretty sure that Midorima couldn't have done what you're doing. I'm sure that he, along with Murasakibara, Aomine, Akashi and as bad as he may be, Haizaki wouldn't have done this."_

_After that, silence enveloped the room. Kise stiffened upon hearing his former teammates' names, but didn't look up at Ibuki._

_Sensing the question, Ibuki said, "I attended Teiko Middle and was in the same cohort as Raiden." he then placed a hand on Kise's shoulder, "I think you need to stop selling yourself short. You're an amazing person, and stop putting those guys above you."_

_Kise didn't say anything._

" _Yeah, you need to stop underestimating yourself." Awesome Singularity said. "To everyone's knowledge, you're the only Swordsmaster in the game, no one whose primary class is Swordsman has made it to your level." This was another aspect to the game, once a player has upgraded to the next skill set of their class, there's an announcement on the server.  
_

" _You know what, you need to make better friend choices." Gold Digger snorted. "I mean, gosh, they sound like a bunch of assholes."_

" _Das rite! Your choices in friends are terrible in the real world, bro." Spring Breeze nodded in agreement. "But anyway, you made it on the front page news! Here!" he said as he pushed the virtual newspaper to the blond. It was another feature of the game, players are informed of various events that had happened through the newspaper sold by NPC._

" _Let me see!" shouts and screeches came from all directions as everyone wanted to see it. The headline said:_

_**Cleric gets the "First Boss Kill" when he single-handedly slaughtered the Lamia Boss.** _

_Beneath the picture, there seemed to be an explanation of what happened but Kise didn't have time to read it. Thanks to this, the atmosphere became lively and merry and Kise wished that things could always stay like this. But no, once Unseen Nightmare is still out and about, no one is safe._

_But then he wondered how the Elf was able to summon bosses. At first, Kise had thought that his subclass was a Sorcerer since he had used the electric attack, since only Sorcerers had that ability. But, he summoned bosses. Any form of summoning belonged to the Summoner class, and here Kise thought that maybe Unseen Nightmare had two subclasses. But, being Swashbuckler doesn't allow for two subclasses. And summoning bosses are impossible._

_[Just how…?] Kise thought. But then, he felt groggy. He wondered if it was because he didn't sleep but it got worse into dizziness._

" _Rai, you alright?" Amused Sharpshooter asked as he saw Kise's paler complexion. He was even breaking out in cold sweat._

" _...I'm getting dizzy, so I'm going back to ―" Kise suddenly froze as pain erupted within his body. He doubled his lips so as to not scream out, but that didn't mean it went by unnoticed._

" _Rai!" Mysterious Hooligan shouted as he grabbed him in his shoulder. "What's happening?!"_

" _It..." Kise started but trailed off due to the pain. He struggled to speak, gasping for air. "...hurts."_

 _Swiftly, Ben and Akinori arrived by his side and tried to use some form of healing magic, but nothing worked. Worry was etched on everyone's faces, hoping ―_ praying _that their guild leader will be alright. But all that was shattered the moment Kise screamed. The pain was unbelievable and the most Kise could do was claw away at his sheets._

_Amused Sharpshooter embraced the screaming teen, trying to offer strength or whatever he could. Kise gripped the boy tightly, in the same breath, buffing the Archer with "Aura of the Strong". Amused Sharpshooter rubbed Kise's back, his heart breaking as he heard the sobs. Out of everyone, he knew Kise the longest, even longer than Runic Night did._

_But, Kise couldn't take it any more. His consciousness was slipping, and no matter how hard he fought, Kise finally succumbed to it. His eyes rolled back and gasps escaped the players' lips as they saw Kise went limp in Amused Sharpshooter's arms. Sickening green lines appeared all over his skin, his complexion becoming an awful pale colour._

" _Raiden!" Spring Breeze screeched in shock. Panic rose, right before their eyes, their guild leader was dying as they saw his HP dwindling and they could only watch._

 _For most of the players, Kise wasn't_ just _their guild leader, he was their rock, a sturdy pillar...with his indomitable spirit, he supported them all through whatever means he could. If it hadn't been for "Raiden", many of them would have crumbled like sand castles against the waves a long time ago. But seeing how they were losing him, the guild members were enveloped in shock and fear._

" _Raiden..."_

_Then, the unthinkable happened ―Kise's health bar emptied and the blond disappeared into colourful pixelated fragments._

Back in the real world, the teams were in shock that they couldn't say anything. They stared wide eyed at the screens at what just happened. Sure, they knew that once players died they'd be revived but they couldn't help to worry.

Especially Murasakibara.

He's been having a bad feeling ever since yesterday and prayed that it was just hunger. It was an awful feeling, a constant gnawing that won't go away. He felt ― _knew_ that this feeling was something due to Kise, still, he didn't want to accept it. And seeing him die right now, he almost threw up.

_..._

In the hospital, Ryouhei sat by Kise's bedside, hoping that his baby boy will hopefully wake up. He longed to hear his screech of "Papacchi!" as he dashes towards him with wide open arms. He longed to see his pouting face whenever he asks for something and doesn't get it. Subconsciously, Ryouhei rubbed Kise's cheek as his face took on a more solemn expression.

"Please, come back to me safely." the older man said, almost as though a prayer. Just then, he saw Kise's hand twitch. Ryouhei jumped at this, his hopes flying through the roof. Again, Kise's hand twitched, and then his other, and his entire body seemed to be having mild spasms.

At this moment, Ryouhei called a nurse or whoever, as he needed to know if his boy was waking up or something was happening to him. Luckily, a nurse came on time, and with a quick glance on the monitors, she let out a horrified gasp. The monitors beeped crazily and the lines which showed his heartbeat were erratic.

"What? What's wrong with him?!" Ryouhei asked in distress. But he was ignored.

Using her pager, she called for assistance and as the other personnel came in, one male had Ryouhei escorted out of the room as the others frantically scampered around.

"Oi! What's happening to him?!" Ryouhei barked, fighting with all his willpower to not attack the male that restrained him. "What's happening to my sunshine?!" the tears rolled out of his eyes uncontrollably and Ryouhei didn't care.

"Sir, if I promise to tell you, will you stop being violent and forceful?" the male asked. "I'm starting to get bruises here."

Ryouhei's face darkened, "Like I fucking care about your stinking bruises! Hurry up and tell me!"

"He's going into shock and ―" the male nurse broke off as Ryouhei dashed to the door while shoving him away. He slid it open and what he saw, left him speechless. Two nurses held Kise on his left and right, while the other used a defibrillator to get his heart beating again.

Ryouhei crumbled to his knees as the tears poured out in torrents. Strangely, the male nurse felt sympathetic. While he didn't have anyone trapped within the game, seeing how a grown man sank to his feet with tears as though he was a child who was just shoved down in mud by bullies was beginning to make his heart quiver.

"C-Co-Come on Sir," the male nurse stammered out. He didn't wait for a reply from Ryouhei, he grasped the man under the arms and hauled him out of the room.

…

It took Ryouhei a staggering four and a half hours to get home.

There was no traffic on the road, but he was unable to drive to properly. Seeing that his son was knocking on death's door earlier had him shaken up. He wasn't tired of saying this, but Kise was his ball of sunshine. It wasn't that he didn't love his two daughters as well, it was just that Kise had been attached to him since birth.

Kise never cried to his mother like any of his sisters did. He would always crawl, run, sprint (whatever he could do at his appropriate age) to his "Papacchi". Ryouhei pulled his car to one side of the road and gripped the steering wheel as he held his head down. The tears came rapidly, the grown man breaking down completely.

He wanted Kise back home, safe and sound, he wanted to hear his whining and complaining about how hard Coach Takeuchi was or how difficult is was to get pass a level. Ryouhei just wanted him _back_.

When he did reach his house, he nearly mowed down the journalists and paparazzi without caring that he may end up in jail if anyone had become injured. They tried to get answers out of him by asking questions from behind the gate, Ryouhei becoming irritated.

"Could you please leave?" he asked, half in politeness.

"But Kise-san, we want to know ―" the man broke off when a gunshot was heard. He (and everyone else) saw the blond man poised with gun in hand.

"I said to leave."

"But we ―"

Ryouhei fired again. "Don't make me kill you."

"Sir, you can't do that."

With quick steps, Ryouhei was before him with the gun poised neatly on his forehead. He could feel the metal pressing against his skin and he was so mortified that he froze.

"Don't fucking test me, bitch." he snarled. "My precious son almost died today so excuse me for wanting to blow your brains out!" he barked with venom. But a second later, his voice calmed, "So, I suggest you leave at this very moment."

Just like that, everyone scattered away from the blond, as though he was a madman on the loose.

...

Over by SuperSonic, a technician typed speedily as he looked at a screen with a program running. Codes ran up the screen quickly and the man had to be typing like the wind with his brain working overtime. One on side of the room, he could see the what was taking place with Kise. He has been at it since yesterday, feeding on coffee and all sorts of things to prevent him from sleeping.

With one last tap on the on the keyboard, the man relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief. "I swear, you better pay me extra for this." he sighed. However, he didn't really mean it. The air was extremely tense and Kise's screams weren't helping either.

"Well, the players' lives are in your company's hands. You should do everything you can to help them." Hiro said with folded arms. He was standing next to Issei, who looked extremely pensive. The moment they saw and heard that Kise was paralysed due to the after-effect, they had contacted SuperSonic to do something. Ever since then, the programmer ―Kaiji had been working tirelessly to alleviate the issue. But he's encountered firewalls and many blockages preventing him from accessing certain programs of the game. Of course, the police were on this case, trying to track the source of these firewalls.

"What did you do?" Hiro asked.

"Due to these complex and scary firewalls that I've no confidence to crack, what I had to do was unlock the skill that Yoshikawa-san said would save him and while I was at it, I re-programmed the skill to revive him right there and removed the pain factor."

Issei whistled, "You programmers are scary."

Kaiji grinned. "Of course. We didn't bust our asses off at University for nothing. But I couldn't stop the bleeding issue because something popped up and threatened to crash our systems." his face then got serious, "But the scary one is the guy behind this. These firewalls aren't normal. Whoever created them is a genius, and I'm not exaggerating."

Issei and Hiro exchanged worrisome glances.

"You may not be able to save these players as fast you would like. This guy or whoever is a monster."

_xxxx_

The room was enveloped in silence.

Players collapsed in shock at what just transpired. For Amused Sharpshooter, he was the hardest hit, since he had been holding Kise in his arms.

"He's gone." he gasped out. "He's…he's..."

Runic Night was the quickest to recover, "I'll go check the cathedral!" he shouted as he used a Travel Rune to get there swiftly. But what neither of them noticed was that Kise's grimoire was still present on the table.

The book opened and the pages flipped open speedily as though breeze was blowing. A golden light gleamed, and something emerged. It had the same shape of a Travel Rune, but due to the light, they couldn't decipher what exactly it was.

It hovered in the air as the light got brighter and soon, the light enveloped the entire room, seeming to blind those present. But as soon as the light faded, they saw the fragments coming back together as though time was being reversed, and after a couple seconds, there Kise was, lying on his bed ―peacefully.

"Raiden-kun..." Awesome Singularity whimpered as she went to his bedside. "...thank goodness."

It was then that they saw what had emerged from the grimoire earlier.

_The Fool Arcana Card._

The tarot card slipped back into the grimoire as it closed shut. Many people gawked at the book nestled on the table, as they knew that Arcana Cards are an important part of this game. So, for Kise to have one in his possession got eyebrows rising.

All this while, Mysterious Hooligan phoned Runic Night to tell the boy to come back since "Raiden" won't be reviving at the Cathedral. Cheers and claps echoed throughout the room, sighs of relief were in the mix as well.

After everything was settled, Silver got everyone out, well, except Awesome Singularity since she was adamant to be by Kise's side. No one really complained, but the chemistry teacher noticed that there was some sort of drop in their spirits. Silver raked a hand through his hair since getting them back to normal is going to be difficult. In times like these, he wished that he had Kise's personality as the blond was always infecting everyone with his chirpiness and joy.

The moment Kise catches someone looking a bit down, he tries to cheer them up in any way possible. Before Silver left the room, he looked at Awesome Singularity and said,

"Take care of him, ne?"

She crossed her arms and huffed, "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	11. Recuperating

Chapter 11

…

Kise felt troubled.

It has just been a measly day since ―according to everyone―that he'd _died._ But, he didn't feel like he had died for a couple seconds. All he could remember was him blacking out from the pain and then waking up to see his fellow guildmates bawling their eyes out. Especially Amused Sharpshooter. He'd look so _wrecked_ that Kise couldn't even utter a single word upon seeing his friend. At the time, he was bewildered by their behaviour but when he heard the story, he couldn't help but gape.

Still, that wasn't the reason for him being troubled.

He was supposed to unlock "The Fool" at Level 43 and the last time he checked, he was at Level 40. It came as a surprise, he wondered if "dying" triggered it earlier than grinding. Though a small part of him was still glad ―the paralysis on his legs was lifting. Just one more day, he'd be up and running and ready to slaughter.

Which is why, currently, Kise had his grimoire opened up and flipped through the pages to see his current skill set. He nodded and hummed, pleased at what he was seeing. But when he opened up his status to see his Swordsmaster Skills both current and unlocked, his disposition sank.

He had no weapon.

Scrolling through the skill set and equipment, he saw that there was a pair of Katana that he should get, but that was on a Quest. He'll still need something to fight monsters with. Kise clicked his tongue in annoyance. It wasn't like he could borrow from Mysterious Hooligan or any other Swordsman. His skills will more than likely break their Katana.

He fell backwards on his bed in deep thought.

Although it would be nice to ask for help, he didn't like having someone else do all the work when he's going to reap the reward at the end of it. That wouldn't be fair.

Just then, Kris and Rihito strolled in, without even knocking on the door. There was look of relief on their faces, but when they saw Kise, they could immediately tell that he was pensive. Detectives are frightening humans.

"Raiden-kun, what's the matter?" Rihito started.

Kise sighed, it didn't make any sense to lie to _them_ of all people. They're detectives, they'd pick up his lie in a heartbeat. "I'm just...uneasy."

"How so?"

"This." Kise said while holding up the Arcana Card. "I was supposed to unlock this at Level 43."

The two exchanged knowing glances before Kris spoke, "A programmer at SuperSonic did."

Kise frowned. "Why? I get it that they probably feel terrible for what happened to us, but I still want to enjoy the game without outside help. If they unlock my skills, how will I have fun?"

"It's not like that." Rihito said as he leaned on the wall closest to the window. Kise raised an eyebrow. "Because you were feeling immense pain in-game, your real body was going into shock and..." he trailed off, looking as though he was trying to remember the terms. "...in essence, you were dying. The only way to save your real body was to forcibly unlock that skill and save you in-game."

Kise froze in horror. "I was..." he paused before he swallowed the lump in his throat. "...dying?"

"Yes." Kris replied. "The signals were sent to your brain, making your body _think_ that it was feeling pain when it wasn't." he then added, "If it weren't for SuperSonic, you'd be dead in reality."

Kise shivered at the realization. If it wasn't for "The Fool", then his parents would have to be planning his funeral at this moment.

"How awful." the blond mumbled.

"Yeah. It was." Rihito said. "So how are you feeling now?"

"A bit better. I want some fresh air though." Kise groaned. "It's agonizing being in one place for so long."

"That can be arranged." Kris smiled.

"I'm not fond of being carried. So, no thanks."

Rihito nor Kris replied, only nodded. After exchanging a few more words, they exited, leaving to do their investigations with the help of Keisei and a few others. So once again, the blond was left alone in his room, feeling as though he was wasting away. He wanted company; Amused Sharpshooter, Runic Night, Mysterious Hooligan and Shameless Illusion along with Yahiko, Beniha and others had left to collect some metals (although they should be back by now).

It was then that his mind ran on Awesome Singularity. Yesterday, she was here and didn't leave no matter how many times he chased her out. And because of that, she's starting to grow on him, even looking out for her.

She was like a dutiful wife ―she fed him, she chatted with him, she tried her best to cheer him up as he was still upset about the whole ordeal. Hanae had dropped by as well as and she was a bawling mess, apologizing as though that it'll save her life. Kise didn't hide the fact that he was _pissed,_ and threatened her that _if_ there should be a next time, he'll personally kill her himself and keep on killing her until she doesn't come back.

Kise _probably_ didn't mean it but...who cares?

He shrugged his shoulders at this, being that Hanae probably didn't take him seriously. But then again, he's the guild leader, she more than likely did. Turning on his sides, he pondered on what to do next. From the start he planned on beating this game, but the problem was, it wasn't a guarantee that beating the game will set them free. And there's no way Unseen Nightmare will agree to a PvP.

Kise sighed in distress.

Although his guildmates seemed to be having fun because he knew ― _he just knew_ ―that the Artisan classes are having a blast, it won't last forever. Players are going to want to see their parents, families, friends and loved ones. They're going to get tired of this and want to go back to the real world. He can only keep them occupied for so long and no more.

What will he do then?

What will he do when everyone is wallowing in depression because they've exhausted every possible means of keeping distracted? What will he do when his players get homesick?

"What will I do…?" he ended up groaning aloud.

"What are you mumbling about?" A voice came from behind him. Immediately, he perked up.

"Chizuka!" The blond Cleric was happy to see her and he was practically bouncing in his bed.

Awesome Singularity chuckled as she closed the door behind her and sat beside his bed on the chair. "So how are you today? Still adamant about chasing me out?" she joked.

"I'm fine. I just need some fresh air. I want to move about and go outside." he then batted his lashes at her, "You know I wouldn't chase you out."

It was then that she _grinned._ Almost as though she had been waiting for him to say this. She rested her elbow on his bed and leaned forward with a smug look on her face.

"That can be arranged."

"Like I told Rihito-san and Kris-san, I'm not fond of being carried like a princess." Kise huffed.

"Who says you're going to be carried?" she replied. Kise's eyebrows rose as he saw her typing a message. She then sent it off, but he couldn't see what she wrote or who she was writing to. A minute later, his door swung open and Futoshi along with another Craftsman (Kise couldn't remember his name at this moment), pushing a wheelchair. Well, it wasn't like the ones from the outside world, it was more like a ―chair with wheels instead of the normal foot joints.

Kise blanched.

"Now Raiden-kun, let's go!" Awesome Singularity chirped.

"No." Kise said curtly.

"Why not?" Futoshi asked. "She can push you! And if you think you're heavy, just buff her with "Aura of the Strong"!"

"That's not it." Kise muttered. He turned away his face and mumbled, "I'll feel helpless in that thing. And it doesn't even have seatbelts."

"Raiden-kun..." Awesome Singularity started but she didn't know what to say to him. She was concerned that he still felt that way, but wanted to laugh as he was worried about the chair not having seatbelts.

"I'm sorry but I have to speak up." the other Craftsman said. Kise racked his brain for his name and finally remembered it. His given name was Kageki but his in-game name was "Kage" so everyone addresses him as such.

Kageki made a step forward to Kise and Awesome Singularity. "It's a given that you'll feel helpless but you have no idea how your guild is feeling." Kise's eyebrows furrowed at this. "Seeing their guild leader in such a state left many heartbroken especially those of the combat class. _We all_ feel like _shit_ because you're hurting and we can't do anything for you; yet, when we were in our darkest hour, you reached out to us." he said with strong emotion. "So stop being selfish and dumb and get your ass in the damn chair. It's the least we can do for you. You're always going about trying to find out information or any hint that may get us out of here, and you're always helping other players level up. Please, just accept this as us trying to get you your mobility back."

Kise was moved by his words. Turning away his face to hide his embarrassment, he _actually_ buffed Awesome Singularity with "Aura of the Strong" and she scooped him up like a princess. Futoshi and Kageki roared with laughter, as they looked funny. With her head in his chest, "Raiden" hunched over her as the blond was _far_ taller. Of course Kise chided them for laughing at him, but they couldn't resist.

He was finally settled in the "wheelchair" but what happened next, left Kise shocked. From the top of the chair, Kageki pulled a thick black _thing_ and connected it to a fastener. Kise was immediately reminded of a seatbelt.

"Is this a seatbelt?" He found himself asking.

"Of course." Awesome Singularity grinned. "Can't have you falling out, now can we?"

Kise started to fret for his life. "What ―" He broke off as she spun the chair and dashed out of the room and down the hallway. Of course, Kise's screaming alerted everyone present. The blond gripped the chair handles like his life depended on it (in a way it did) as they flew down the flights of stairs...of _all six floors._

By the time they reached the ground floor, Kise looked pale and like his soul was slipping out of his body.

"Raiden!"

"Raiden-san!"

"Rai!"

"Raiden-onii-chan!"

Were just many of the shouts that greeted him from the social room. The players were all glad that to see him up and about, and they all surrounded him like a group of ecstatic children (although there was one player who was eleven and saw Kise as his big brother) that just received a new toy. Add to that, Kise was sitting, so some of the taller players seemed to be looming over him like hawks. They pushed and shoved against each other, just to give him a hug. At this point, Kise felt like they were squeezing the life out of him, as _everyone_ wanted a piece of their Guild Leader.

Awesome Singularity had to intervene, as Kise really did look like he was going to be suffocated. "Back away you fools!" she screeched as she pulled the "wheelchair" backwards. "Can't you see that you're killing him?!"

"Ha..." he managed to breathe out in relief. "...hi guys."

"How are you today?!" Bronze Legend perked. He was standing atop a table to see Kise over the crowd.

Kise jolted in shock to see the boy there. "I'm fine, thanks."

"When you get better can you help me level up?" This request spurred on everyone else, as they too agreed with the young Swordsman.

"Sure..." Kise said, trailing off.

"Rai, cheer up will you?" Amused Sharpshooter said, squirming his way through the crowd to get up at his feet. He then threw a hand over Kise's shoulder and said with a wink, "Can you buy this plot of land for us?" He opened up a map of Joumei City and showed him the space.

Kise was alarmed. "For what?!" he added, "That looks expensive! You asshole, you want to leave me broke, don't you?!"

"Rai, Rai, Rai..." the Archer said while shaking his head. "It's all for the better of the guild. You're the richest one of us all, so we're asking of you this small favour..."

"I'm not rich! I have to feed, clothe, and shelter you lot! How can I _still_ be rich after all that?!"

Amused Sharpshooter remained unchanged, looking at Kise with that goofy grin. "Because you _still_ are." he chuckled. "A _completely broke_ player wouldn't be so relaxed as you are. I know you're loaded, Rai. Don't try to deny it."

"What do you want it for?" Kise then said, knowing that it was a lost cause to argue with the Sharpshooter. Looking at the area once again, he noticed this area was relatively close to their guild yard, but for the life of Kise, he couldn't see what they could want it for. If it were the Artisan players asking for it, then he could have _tried_ to understand. But this was Amused Sharpshooter, who was 100% combat class.

"It's a surprise." he grinned.

Kise grumbled and agreed anyway. He knew that Amused Sharpshooter knew that he didn't like spending money frivolously. He'll kill him if he finds out it was for nothing useful.

"On that note, Raiden-san, we need a guild colour and we can't decide." Tomohito spoke up.

Kise rolled his eyes. He didn't come out of his room for this. "Just choose a colour that looks good with my blond hair." he sighed. "But no orange or extremely bright colours."

"Black!" A player screamed out.

"No. We'll really look like yakuza or something." Kise shot down swiftly.

"Wouldn't that be cool?! Other players will piss their pants in fear!"

Kise rolled his eyes. "If everyone is afraid of us, we'll lose money."

"Yellow!"

"Are you deaf? No bright colours. Take into consideration the Archers and Assassins and those other classes who need to blend into the background." he then added, "Plus, I'm already blond, I don't need any more yellow on me." Kise denied.

"Royal Blue!"

"Purple!"

" _Black! Black!_ " Another screeched continuously. He was an Assassin and had agreed with what Kise had said earlier. "I don't care if we look like yakuza! _Black!_ "

"With gold trimmings and edges!" A thief added with too much enthusiasm. "That way we _won't_ look like yakuza!"

"No way! I want green!"

"Bitch, I'm an Archer! I don't need any more green!"

And so, an argument erupted between the members of the guild, fighting over which colour should represent their guild. Screeches and incoherent shrieks echoed throughout the social room, giving the blond guild leader a headache.

Kise rubbed his temples. This was one of the reasons why he was a solo player ―he couldn't bother with this indecisive drama.

With an eye roll, he opened up the Menu and searched for the guild colour options. He then chose the main colour as "Cobalt Blue" and added another minor colour ―dark purple. The change was immediate. Everyone's outfits changed to these colours, the players looking at their new clothes with surprise.

"There. Satisfied?" Kise asked, however, with the tone of voice he used, no one dared to refute. "Good." he grinned.

"Great, now Rai, go out and get some fresh air." Mysterious Hooligan said, sounding a bit rushed. "And while you're at it, go buy that land."

Everyone nodded vigorously, at this, Kise could tell that they were up to something. But before he could question them, Awesome Singularity wheeled him out of the room, exiting the building. As the warm sunlight hit Kise's face, the blond heaved a sigh of relief. Although it has been only a few days (one of which he was unconscious for), he _longed_ to get outside.

The alluring scent of the café, the cool and refreshing breeze against his skin, the warmth of the sun, the beautiful arrangement of the flowers in his guild yard, Kise missed it all. As Awesome Singularity continued to push him, Kise felt someone else trudged up beside them.

"What's up, Rai?"

It was none other than Runic Night.

"Can't you see?" Kise asked in a sarcastic tone. "There isn't a single thing "up"."

Runic Night chuckled. But less than a second later, his face took on a more serene look. "I don't think I've ever said this to you before, but thanks." Kise rose an eyebrow. The Warrior continued, "You've been doing a damn good job, _all by yourself,_ " he emphasized this a little too much, "You're an amazing person, Rai. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Kise didn't know how to respond. He's never this side of Runic Night before and wondered if getting affected by an after-effect and dying prompted the boy to express himself. Whatever the case, it was somewhat creepy but at the same time, moving.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Kise said with a nod.

"I feel like I'm third-wheeling or something." Awesome Singularity sighed. "Ayato-kun, please don't speak like that to Raiden. It's odd."

Runic Night laughed. "I was _trying_ to be sentimental!" his laughter died down when he tried to change the subject. "So where are we heading?"

"I don't know. Anywhere, I guess." Kise shrugged.

"I was planning on bringing him to the Land Owners' Market to purchase that area." Awesome Singularity responded.

"Hmm..." he hummed. "Couldn't you use a Travel Rune?" Kise and Awesome Singularity's eyebrows rose in confusion at this. "I mean, Elf can kill anyone within a safe-zone right? So, he's probably pretty pissed right now. Instead of having Rai leave the compound where we could save him, let's just teleport there and back. That way, Elf won't see him, thinking that he's still here."

"That's actually the smartest way to go about it." Awesome Singularity nodded. Then, she leaned over to Runic Night and whispered, "But won't it be too quick? I mean, they'll need time to hide the things before they can move it to the area."

Runic Night tapped his chin. "That's right." However, his face brightened like a light bulb. "We could take him to different places in the meantime. He won't suspect a thing."

While Kise couldn't hear a thing that they were saying, he could hear the sounds of whispering and hated it. He felt as though they were scheming something but then again, what could they possibly hide? He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Runic Night shout with an all too excited tone:

"So, let's go!"

In the blink of an eye, the Warrior whipped out a Travel Rune and all three were immediately teleported to the Land Owner's Market. Even though it was called "Market", it was a building with about two stories and controlled by NPCs. Inside was empty, much to Kise's shock, only the NPCs present. Awesome Singularity pushed him towards the receptionist desk and following her programming, the female NPC said,

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"We're here to purchase Lot 12." Runic Night answered.

With a nod, the NPC said, "That will be five hundred thousand gold coins."

Kise's face immediately lost all its colour. Runic Night flashed him a smile, and right there, Kise felt like strangling him to death. That price was beyond expensive, and although it was within Kise's wallet range, he still found it _hard_ to fork out so much money for something he didn't know the usage of.

Seeing how hesitant Kise was, Runic Night batted his lashes playfully, urging him to pay up. With a sigh, Kise gave in, remembering that he told Amused Sharpshooter (in front of everyone) that he'd really buy the land.

Doing the transactions and signing the contract, the land was officially Kise's, although he was trembling so much that Runic Night had to assist him. It was painful, seeing that the longer he stays as Guild Leader, the more broke he'll become.

"This is the _last_ time I'm spending so much money on you!" Kise hissed, wiping away his fake tears. "If it's not food, you better go to a dungeon and earn your money!"

"Hai, hai." Runic Night nodded. "But there won't be a next time. This is the last time."

Kise froze. The Warrior's tone of voice scared him, as he sounded like he'll never see them again or something. The blond looked at him with worried eyes, and it was then that Runic Night realized how he sounded.

"I mean, we won't ask you to buy anything for us."

"You better."

But, what Kise didn't notice was Awesome Singularity standing afar off from them and messaging Amused Sharpshooter with a satisfied grin on her face. When she was done and closed the message box, she silently walked back over to Kise and Runic Night after giving the Warrior a nod.

"Well then, Rai," Runic Night began, talking the chair from Awesome Singularity and pushed him out of the building. "Let's do some sightseeing."

"What? What's there to sightsee?" Kise said, rolling his eyes. "Just take me back home. This chair is uncomfortable."

"No, no, no," Awesome Singularity grinned as she trotted beside them. "There are _plenty_ of places that we can go to." She then opened up a map, searching for a preferred area. When she found it, a smile came on her face. "We can go here, the Mystic Mountains, right?"

" _Yes._ " Runic Night smirked. Kise shook his head in refusal, but neither were willing to relent. Yet again, Runic Night took out a Travel Rune, and within a flash, they were whisked away to the Mystic Mountains.

…

The trio reached the Mountains and what they saw left them awestruck. Neither of them have been here before, so they didn't know what to expect. However, it was listed as one of the best places to relax in the game. There was an unending chain of massive mountains, steep and majestic. Parts of them seem to be made out of granite, the other parts seemed to be a mixture of different minerals. The ancient trees reached high up into the sky. The fields were vast and all kinds of mythical beasts ―Pegasus, dragons etc.― were running and flying around.

Kise was left in awe at the scenery, and as his eyes scanned across the towering mountains and precipitous ridges, his gaze landed on the small valley below. From what the blond saw, the terrain of this land would be suitable for camping. Kise figured that maybe he could treat his guild to a camping trip one of these days ―when he's richer, that is.

There was a meandering brook, with its small stream, if heavy rain should fall, flooding wouldn't be an issue. The valley was wide, yet its mouth was extremely narrow, but there was a tranquil ambiance about the place that calmed Kise. He momentarily forgot about the pain he felt when he couldn't walk, the burning hatred for Unseen Nightmare for robbing them of their lives...at the moment Kise was actually at _ease._ The subtle breeze that blew calmed Kise's stormy spirit, and was tempting to lull the blond to sleep.

"Wow, this is a beautiful place." Runic Night said, his coarse voice ruining Kise's mood. "Damn,"

"I agree." Awesome Singularity said. "It makes me feel like there isn't a single thing to worry about."

"What about you Rai?" Runic Night asked. "Loving the view?"

Kise could only manage a nod. No doubt, the area was _beautiful_ , and the blond felt like he could stay here for the remainder of the game. But sadly, that won't be an option. They had to conquer this game if they wanted to keep their minds sane, and they had find a way to take down Unseen Nightmare as the police have no idea as to where to start searching for him in the real world.

"I just wonder if when we beat this game, will we really be free?" he blurted out. It has been lingering on his mind for the longest while, and frankly, he hadn't an inkling if it were the case. "I mean, we haven't gotten any confirmation that beating the game will set us free…"

"That's the million dollar question indeed." Runic Night said. "Unless Elf is the final boss or something."

"Which I highly doubt." Awesome Singularity joined in. "It just doesn't seem like the case."

"Hmm…" Kise hummed to himself. He just gotten an idea, but in his current state, he doubts that he'd be able to execute it. He'll need to get to Grand-Swordsmaster level first. So, he decided, for the time being, he'll just enjoy whatever this game has to offer and try to complete it _without_ dying by Unseen Nightmare's hands.

"Anyway, enough of that, let's get cracking!" Runic Night screeched as he sprinted down the slope with Kise. Frightened, Kise let out a scream of terror, which was followed by a string of colourful curses directed at the Warrior.

"As always, your mouth is as filthy as a public sewer!" he howled out in laughter. "I swear, Rai, your ancestors are probably rolling in their graves at your _foul_ language!"

"I'll show you what's dirty as —" Kise broke off when the chair hit a rock in the ground. Thanks to the seatbelt, Kise wasn't sent flying, but instead, Runic Night crashed into him and the two barrelled into the ground.

"Heh, what a bumpy ride." Runic Night joked as he spat out dirt and grass. Awesome Singularity jumped over the Warrior and Kise up, but it was clear that the blond Cleric was not happy.

"Rune…" Kise snarled and opened up his grimoire, pulling out his Holy Sceptre, "…die."

At that, a pained scream could be heard echoing across the valley.

…

Back at the guild, the players could be seen sitting in the social room, seeming to be awaiting something. Amused Sharpshooter sat in a chair atop a table so that the others could have a clear view of him. He tapped his feet impatiently, glancing at the clock he brought up from the Menu. Just then, he heard a "ding" sound and jumped in shock.

Opening up the message, a grin that stretch from ear to ear appeared on his face, which signalled to the others in the room, the good news that they were awaiting. Even some Artisan classes were present, except the Chefs since they had the café to tend to). The Archer read the message out loud to the entire room, which was followed by screams and hoots of excitement.

"I can't wait to see the look on Raiden's face when we surprise Raiden with this." King Aiza said as he rubbed his hands sinisterly.

"I know right?" Spring Breeze nodded. But then his face softened a little bit, "He really deserves this. He's been through a lot and has been doing so much for us, I'm just glad I'm able to be a part of something for him."

"That's right," Mysterious Hooligan said, "So you assholes better not fuck this up. This is our one chance to show Rai how much we appreciate him."

"Now you bastards," Amused Sharpshooter grinned at them as he got up out of the chair, "I take it that you all know what to do, right?" the players nodded. "Good, I now commence Operation: _GLAD!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	12. Into Fiendish Territory

Chapter 12

…

The sun was barely up, the dark sky having a small tint of orange to it. Within a room, shuffling could be heard as the young blond male hurriedly put on his clothes. Now that his feet were fully functional, Kise wasn’t going to hesitate in getting those pair of Katana.

When he was fully dressed, he hopped out of his window to land in the guild yard. The place was quiet, given that everyone was asleep which Kise was glad for. He knew that if they were awake he’ll have his entire party (the entire guild by extension) tagging along with him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want them to come along, but this time was different. He didn’t have any weapon and he was going to retrieve one. All the hard work would be done by someone else, but at the end of the day, he’ll get the reward. He couldn’t bear that.

So quickly, Kise made his way to a NPC weapon store, and waited outside until they opened. Since it was this early in the morning, everywhere was closed; Kise chuckling at the realism of the game. As the minutes go by, the sun crept up more; the birds’ chirping could be heard. The store Kise stood at suddenly opened, and without hitch, he entered and took up a pair of Katana.

He didn’t look at their quality that much, he just needed something sharp in case he had to cut anything.  He internally sighed as he examined it closer, he knew he could’ve gotten a better one from Runic Night’s shop but he didn’t want the Warrior to get suspicious.

“That’ll be fifty thousand gold coins.” The NPC replied.

Kise handed the money to the Elf and exited without a word. He then made his way across the city with “Aura of the Swift”, running atop the roofs for more space. He reached the Archives of the city in due time. This building was reminiscent of a Grand Library with a large overhang supported by thick pillars; the doors were made out of furnished wood.

As Kise stepped through the unfamiliar double doors, he could see rows of bookshelves covered with dust. The very same dust glimmered in the faint light that escaped through the small window above, giving the Archives a very ancient look.

Kise walked briskly to his destination, hoping to get the required information quickly before the city starts to buzz. He walked to the tenth or so bookshelf, where, hovering above it was a little box which detailed what books were there.

Kise grinned. _Finally._

Kise skimmed through the books’ table of content to find what he wanted. He hadn’t the time to skip through the pages, so he opted for the shorter way. If he missed anything, then that would’ve been his misfortune.

After minutes of searching, he found one book that seemingly had what he wanted. The cover read ― _“The Legend of the Sword God”._ With an intense gaze, Kise read bits and pieces that he’d only need for this quest.

Thirty minutes later, the blond was leaving the Archives with a calm look on his face, where he trotted towards the city gates with a look of determination.

…

Awesome Singularity stretched as she woke.

The other four occupants of the room were still asleep, given that it was quite early in the morning and they don’t usually wake this time. She silently made her way out of the room and into the hallway when she froze. The corridor was dark ― _too dark ―_ she had to be feeling around for the light switch. She found this extremely odd; being that _normally_ there was some form of light illuminating the corridor.

Nevertheless, after she fumbled around and found the light switch, she made her way to the showers to freshen up before the rush started. When she stepped over into one of the shower stalls, she couldn’t help but think that there was something amiss. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there really was something different about this morning.

As she scrubbed her hair with the shampoo, a thought came to mind.

She had to turn on the hall lights to see. Normally, when she got up, “Raiden’s” room light would be on and thus gave the hall _some_ illumination. But, what was the case this morning? It was a typical thing for “Raiden” to be up from God knows when, but is it that he’s still sleeping this time?

Awesome Singularity _refused_ to believe it.

After showering quickly, she bolted towards Kise’s room and kicked the door open. She didn’t care that _if_ the blond was present, he’d be shirtless and start screaming about privacy and harassment. She didn’t even care that she herself was dripping wet and wrapped in towels. She wanted to make sure he didn’t run off to get himself killed or something.

But lo and behold, the room was dark…and it seemed empty.

Switching on the lights, she saw that the bed was neatly made, but most importantly, no sign of “Raiden” anywhere. She headed to his bathroom and swung the door open, hoping to find him lounging in his tub like always, but no, it was _empty._

She then walked to his desk to look through his window, hoping that he may be out in the yard “warming up” as he calls it. It was here she spotted sheets of paper tucked under his stamp. She took the sheet on top and read:

_Yo!_

_Whoever’s reading this (I have a feeling it’s you, Chizu-cchi!), be warned, next time, I’ll put a lock on my door! What if I was changing?! Mou~☺_

_But anyway, I’m just going to be stepping out for a while and don’t worry, I’ll be back in due time (hopefully). Just got some things to take care of. So…DO. NOT. WORRY._

_Below this should be some other papers, whoever you are (I still think it’s Chizu-cchi) give them to Silver-san and Etsuocchi (Bluemane). Their instructions are already written. The final four, give it to the Chefs and Craftsmen, again, their instructions are already written._

_Now, this should keep you all busy. *smirks with delight*._

_Ja ne~!_

Awesome Singularity froze.

“This idiot!” she snapped and slammed her palm down on the desk. Immediately, she opened up a map of the city to pinpoint his exact location. This was yet another great aspect of the game; players within the same party or guild are able to see each others’ locations at any given time by searching for their names on an open map. However, “Raiden” was nowhere within Joumei. With a curse, she then expanded the map further to cover areas outside, and found that the blond guild leader was miles away, heading towards an unknown area to her.

But that alone didn’t stun her. He was moving _damn fast_.

“Which means he’s either using “Aura of the Swift” or flying on his Pegasus.” She mumbled to herself. “Where the hell is he going?” But quickly putting that aside, she returned to her room and got dressed ―suited up in her combat outfit―and marched downstairs where she pulled the lever which was nestled on the side of the wall of the social area, sounding an alarm.

Everyone in the guild was immediately woken by it; the loud and incessant ringing would even make the dead roll in their graves. Of course, within some minutes, all the guild members (sans Rihito and Kris) were downstairs. They were all haggard looking, the bed hairs were prominent, the sleep-wrecked faces, _everything._

“What’s the matter?” Silver asked with a yawn. He then looked around and saw that Kise was missing as _he_ was the most likely person to ring the alarm. “And where’s Raiden-kun?”

“ _He’s_ the matter.” Awesome Singularity said. This caught everyone’s attention. She then handed the papers to Silver and Bluemane, and when the two males read it, their jaws hung.

“This…this…this…” Bluemane stuttered, unable to create a sentence due to his shock.

“We can deal with that later. Right now, Raiden-kun is heading somewhere. He’s not in the city nor is he in the surrounding areas.” Awesome Singularity said.

“Then, do we need to worry about him?” Amused Sharpshooter yawned. “I mean, we don’t know where he’s headed. _And_ he’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

“That’s not the point.” Tomohito quipped. “It’s probably the fact that he’s just upped and left _without_ a word. _And_ he’s weapon-less.”

 “Rai is a big boy. Plus, when he was going on the quest for his grimoire, he didn’t have any weapon.” Mysterious Hooligan joined in. “And according to him, the journey “seemed like he was going to the final boss”.”

“Rai is just extra.” Shameless Illusion chuckled.

“But still,” Chie joined in. She was a Priest(ess) with a Water Mage subclass. “ _Where_ exactly is he?”

“I don’t know. He’s even past Murata.” Awesome Singularity replied. “And I’m worried because who knows what kind of monstrous beasts lies beyond Murata.”

At this moment, gasps rang out in the air as everyone knows that Murata is quite the distance from Joumei. By low-grade travel runes and summoned beasts (Pegasus, Griffons), it takes a maximum of two days to reach. By high-grade Travel Runes and the teleport gates, it’s instantaneous and by horses and carriages it takes a whole week. So, for their guild leader to reach that far in such a short space of time must mean that whatever he’s doing requires serious urgency.

“What the fuck is he up to now?” Runic Night said as he raked a hand through his black hair. “I know he has a tendency to just up and leave, but it’s usually with reason.”

“Please calm down.” Silver said before chaos started to break out. He then opened up a map with Raiden’s location and expanded it to see the nearest city or village. That way, he could try to find out why “Raiden” is doing what he is.

“Oh.” The chemistry teacher gave out.

“What? What’s it say?” Mysterious Hooligan asked for everyone present.

“The nearest place is actually a country. He’s past Murata and the NPC villages so the next place he should arrive at is _Bretagne._ ”

“Bu…re…ta…gu…ne? What?”

“It’s not Japanese so don’t try to pronounce it.” Silver said with a chuckle. Their faces were absolutely hilarious. “It says here that it’s a Kingdom.” He quickly switched back to the issue at hand.

“What’s he doing there?” King Aiza asked to no one specifically. “What is even _there_?” The social area was enveloped in a tense silence as the players tried to figure out what could really compel their Guild Leader to go to such a place.

“I’m going after him.” Awesome Singularity said. “I’m sure he’s weapon-less so I’m going to offer my assistance.” She then mumbled, “And while I’m at it, I’ll stab some sense into him.”

“Girl, I’m tagging along. I’ve known Rai ever since this game came out, so we have history.”

“Raiden is a member of our party, the Demolition Regiment! We’re going too!” Gold Digger spoke up with Spring Breeze nodding fervently beside him.

“Okay, listen up.” Silver started because he knew where this was leading to. He scanned the crowd to choose the right set of players to go on this seemingly perilous journey. “Chizuka-san, Daisuke-kun, Ishida-kun, Chihaya-kun and Ben-kun, you five will be heading to Raiden-kun.”

“Eh?!” Ben screeched. “Me?!”

“Yes. You’re a Priest, which is essential to the group, should you encounter Monsters. Not only that, you have a Fire Mage subclass which means you’re able to defend yourself.”

“Come on, Ben. Let’s get cracking.” Amused Sharpshooter said, dragging him out. “Chizuka is already dressed and ready to go.”

Silver continued when they left, “The rest of us have work to do. Keisei-san, Hajime-kun and Mei-san, you three will head to the City Archives to find out what lies in Bretagne. A treasure? A Quest with a high reward? Keep these questions in mind.” The trio nodded. “If that doesn’t work, try to find out the link between “Cleric” or “Swordsman” and the country. That way, we can deduce the reason for Raiden to head there.”

With that, the trio headed off to freshen up.

“Chefs, Craftsmen and those of the Spellcaster classes who are able to wield Fire Magic, head to Etsuo-kun. Raiden left work for us, and he’ll be pretty pissed if he comes back and there’s no progress.”

“But what are we going to do?”

Bluemane replied, “He said that to ease to load off the Chefs, he’s trying to offer a pre-order kind of service. Which means, Craftsmen have to make bento boxes and with the aid of Fire Magic, make something like a microwave.”

“Eh?!” came the screech.

“Yeah, he’s outlined it in great detail here. There’re even diagrams.”Bluemane replied with a smile. “I think we can do it.”

“So, how will this pre-order service work?” Royal Cook asked. “Won’t the other guilds need to agree to this or something?”

“That’s where I come in.” Silver sighed. “He’s sending me to the other guilds to have them sign a contract.” The chemistry teacher then turned to Spring Breeze and Gold Digger, “You’re coming with me.”

“What? Why?” the duo were pretty upset that they weren’t chosen to go after their Guild Leader, but there was a reason why Silver didn’t send them.

“Because along with Raiden-kun and Ishida-kun, you two are the founding members. I don’t need to go any further, do I?”

“No…” they groaned out.

Futoshi sighed. “It seems like we have to put _GLAD_ on hold.”

“I think he doesn’t want us to know what he’s up to why he’s left so much work for us.” Kageki grumbled.

“But really, what could he be doing?” Beniha asked.

“Beats me.” One chef responded with a shrug.

…

Kise dismounted off his Pegasus at the entrance of the forest, silently cursing that he couldn’t continue on the winged horse. He thought about using “Aura of the Swift” but he didn’t want to miss anything so discarded the thought.

The forest before him seemed primordial as the age-old trees with their sprawling limbs blocked out any sunlight. Their limbs arched so much that they reminded Kise of those huge umbrellas, completely blocking out the sun from the forest floor. He cautiously trudged onwards, wary of the dangerous creatures that may be lurking about in the shadows. When he read _“The Legend of the Sword God”_ back in the Archives, he knew _exactly_ what kind of monsters lay in this country, and as much as he would want to get EXP and coins, without a proper weapon, he _dared not_ risk it.

Suddenly, sounds of snarling and crunching attacked his ears, and immediately, the blond was on high alert. He glanced around him and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but he still didn’t let his guard down. Continuing onwards, Kise stumbled upon a sight that’ll leave him vomiting.

There, within the clearing was a bunch of fiends, all bent on their fours surrounding what, Kise had no idea. But, a thick, red liquid ran from the bunch, indicating that they were indeed feasting on flesh. He watched, with utmost revolt at the Godless scene before him, unable to move an inch. Just then, a rustle could be heard and there was yet another fiend, dragging an unconscious body past the group and thrown in a corner.

Trailing the new fiend that entered the scene, Kise wanted to faint from disgust. To one side, there were mounds of old, gnawed bones alongside a heap of broken ribs and grinning skulls while to the next, there was a mountain of dead bodies, just waiting to be devoured by the scoundrels. His skin crawled and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end like a frightened cat.

Fear seeped beneath his skin, feverish and hot, leaving Kise crouching behind a vast twisted tree. He wanted to conceal himself in the murky shadows because if they saw him, he’d have to fight them. He didn’t want that, since he was strapped for time ―meaning that, it was only a matter of time before his worried guildmates come hunting him down to haul his ass back home or stay with him on this dangerous quest.

With a deep breath, Kise tried to navigate around the clearing, crawling on his fours so as to hide his obnoxiously bright hair. Although this was a game and monsters won’t attack unless aggroed, he wasn’t going to chance it. After all, he bled, felt pain and his clothes got ripped and tattered which should have been impossible. So, having experienced that, he had a feeling that these fiends would pounce on him the moment their eyes caught him.

Steadily he crawled away from the creatures, counting down when he’d be away from them. But Kise’s luck was about to run out. In the midst of his crawling, he heard a blood curdling scream and the sounds of metal clashing against _something._ Given the sound, it seemed like wood, or something of a lesser durability than metal.

Instantly, his head whipped back to the feasting fiends and he saw them all perk up at the sounds. They immediately went into action, darting through the bush towards the sounds. At this, Kise was worried. Whoever made that scream…were they NPC or players like him? He was tempted to go check it out and by extension save them, but if they were NPCs it made no sense because they’d just respawn or something. But if it were players, they’d revive at the cost of levels and equipment.

_Should I…?_

Just then, his entire body glowed with a faint white light, as if wanting to give away his location to anything that may be lurking.

“Eh? What’s happening?” Kise asked in a frantic whisper as he pats himself all over. “Stop glowing!” Suddenly, the entire area turned white, the forest was nowhere to be seen. He got up onto his feet and looked around, wondering what was going on.

 _“Why do you hesitate?”_ a voice asked from before him. Kise froze momentarily. That was _his_ voice. He turned around to see himself, standing before him with a solemn look on his face.

 _“Why do you hesitate?”_ He asked again.

“Who are you?” Kise asked, totally forgetting that he was suddenly moved from the forest to somewhere else.

The man with Kise’s face chuckled. _“I am Mitsuhide.”_ He said while taking steps towards the blond Guild Leader. _“Now, Raiden-kun, tell me, why do you hesitate to save those in need?”_

Kise scoffed at the NPC ―“I don’t want to die. Plus, my weapons are insufficient.”―is what Kise would have loved to answer but his mouth moved on its own.

“I am scared.” Kise started to freak out. He sure as hell wasn’t the least bit scared, but he didn’t want to waste time on something that didn’t seem beneficial at the moment. But damn, his mouth seemed to have a different agenda. “I don’t know how to combat the fiends…what if I get corrupted too?”

Mitsuhide’s face softened. _“You are a Cleric, don’t worry about it. Fiends are unable to do such a thing to you because you have the Divine Blessing.”_

“Really?”

A text box popped up above his head with _« Quest added: Save the NPCs being attacked by the fiends. »_

He smiled as he ruffled Kise’s hair. _“You have the power to save them, now go. I’ll always have your back.”_ And with that, Mitsuhide faded away into the light, the white-room like area disappearing as well, bringing the forest back into play.

Kise stood, stunned and angry. “Fuck you SuperSonic!” he screeched. He stomped off towards the sounds of battle, cursing as he went along. “You better fucking watch my back, you shitty NPC.” He snapped and he walked beneath a tree’s branch. Not wanting the NPC to die before he completes this mini quest, he buffed himself with “Aura of the Swift” to get over where the action was. Upon seeing the scene, Kise let out a groan of frustration.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Mitsuhide.”

Quickly opening up his grimoire, the blond Guild Leader pulled out his Holy Sceptre and jumped into the fray.

…

Keisei, King Aiza and Shameless Illusion arrived at the NPC information broker in due time, changing their minds from heading to the Archives to dig through numerous books. Although the latter place would have more in-depth information, time was of the essence. They needed information quickly to relay to the team that’s going after “Raiden”. The trio walked up to the NPC at the desk and asked for any information regarding the Kingdom of Bretagne. Upon receiving the papers, they huddled at a nearby table before heading back to the guild.

Keisei took one of the papers and started to read, however, before he could relate the information to the others, the colour from his face drained.

“No…” he gasped out in shock.

“What? What’s it say?” King Aiza asked in curiosity for the entire group.

With trembling hands, Keisei replied, “Raiden is going to get himself killed.”

“Huh?!” they screeched as they looked at the paper within Keisei’s hands. Shameless Illusion snatched it away in her shock and read everything out loud. When she was done, the looks on the trio’s face were absolutely dreadful.

“Rai has really gone and done it now.” Shameless Illusion hissed. “What the fuck is he thinking?! Doing this _alone_ , _without_ a single Katana, is madness!”

“Let’s get back to the Guild quickly.” Keisei said after he’d calm down. “That way, the search and rescue team can adequately prepare.”

And with that, the trio used a Travel Rune and teleported to the Guild social room within a split second. When they reached, like Awesome Singularity, to get everyone’s attention at the same time without having to type out an entire message, Keisei sounded the alarm which had everyone running. 

“Silver-san,” the Swordsman started. “We’ll need to send out a search and rescue team with the players of the highest levels.”

Eyes widened with shock at this news. Chatter rose as players voiced their concern about what their Guild Leader has landed himself into, being that he had _just_ recovered from a lethal after-effect.

“Elaborate,” the vice guild leader said with worry.

“One of Bretagne’s past Kings — _Mirai_ — was revered as the _“Sword God”_ due to him being at the level of Grand Swordsmaster at the age of twenty-five. What’s more, he was in Mitsuhide’s party and helped to save this world back then.”

“So…what does that have to do with Rai?” Amused Sharpshooter asked.

“Before Mirai passed away,” Shameless Illusion started, “Or rather, when he was on his death bed so to speak, he had sealed both his Katana, _FaithKeeper ―Hope of the Guiding Light_ and _OathKeeper ―Carver of Suffering’s End_ in a Temple where no one of an evil nature could get them to wield. So, now, they’re still there, but the catch is, that area is overrun by fiends due to the Arcana ― _Priestess_ being corrupted by the _Kyoudaina_ of the Dark World.”

“Add to that, Raiden is now a Swordsmaster. According to the information, once a Swordsman reaches that level, there’s a pair of Katana he needs to get.” King Aiza joined in the explanation.

“No…” Gold Digger gasped in shock as he realized what was going on.

“He’s gone for Mirai’s Dual Katana, isn’t he?” Spring Breeze gasped out.

“Yeah,” King Aiza responded. “But the dilemma is that Bretagne has a fiend infestation, and as a Cleric and Swordsmaster, Raiden will automatically trigger a quest that’ll have him heading to the Fiendish Boss and get him to the Katana.” The Swashbuckler said with a sigh, “In other words, he’s putting himself in some serious shit that would require a normal party or two to handle.”

At that, horrified gasps escaped the lips of the members present. Every single player knows that Fiends are not to be trifled with, and given that they think that “Raiden” is weapon-less, he’s basically offering up himself to be slaughtered.

 “Guys, we gotta move.” Mysterious Hooligan started. “Now.” He said to Awesome Singularity and the others who were supposed to leave to fetch their guild leader.

“Wait,” Silver called out. “You can’t leave just yet.”

“What are you talking about? Raiden-kun is ―!” Awesome Singularity broke off when Keisei interrupted.

“Let him finish.”

“Thanks,” the chemistry teacher sighed. “But you guys can’t go like that. Have the Weaponsmiths upgrade your weapons, head to the Alchemists for some recovery potions, especially you, Ben.” The young priest nodded. “And lastly, head to the armoury and see if you can equip anything from there.”

The Armoury was a large room with numerous items, most of which was placed by Kise. Given that he’s been on so many raids and went to many dungeons, he had accumulated a lot of items, some of which are useless to him. So instead of having them sit in his Item Storage, he placed them in the armoury for anyone to use at any time. But, they were still _his._

“Yes Sir!”

_xxxx_

Back in the real world, the teams started sweating bullets. Although even if Kise dies he’ll get revived, after seeing him near death already, they don’t think that their hearts would survive. After seeing Kise head into the creepy forest, they couldn’t help the sinking feeling that they had. And it just got worse when Kise dashed into the midst of battle of fiends with _only_ his sceptre in hand.

“I don’t know if Kise’s an idiot or what…” Aomine sighed.

“It was the quest that he was given.” Kasamatsu replied. “Obviously, he had to do it. It wasn’t like he had gotten an option to deny it.”

“But who was that though?” Momoi asked. “That Mitsuhide guy, where’d he come from and why does he look like Ki-chan?”

Everyone in the room shrugged because in Kaijou’s case, Kise only told them the lore of the game, and that’s it. So, this time, even the Blue Elites were stumped. As for Kise’s family, they sat in complete silence, but the worried aura seeped out their bodies in thick waves, tensing up the atmosphere within the room.

 

_Kise used “Aura of the Swift” to get in the midst of the battle, and used his “Adamantine Binding Chains” ―the upgraded version of his Binding Chains previously used on the Blue Traced Worm― to hold the fiends closest to him in place. Then swiftly, he prepared to use “Holy Reprisal” but in that very moment, his other spell “Purification: Tranquil Retribution” was activated instead._

_A huge spell circle appeared beneath the feet of the fiends, and as it lit up, Kise saw that their black and scaly skins were being melted away. The green, sickening markings on their skins were dissolving like sugar in hot water as they crumbled to their knees; their spiked and wild hair were slowly changing back into its original smooth and silky state. He gaped in shock at the sight, as when the light subsided, the fiends he had held within his chains were gone. In their places were normal NPCs albeit unconscious._

_“What was that?!” Kise gasped. Even the ground beneath them was purified, the luscious green grass and beautiful flowers blooming._

_The remaining fiends shrieked in fear and dashed off, the NPC who were fighting stood in shock and awe at the blond. In their country, fiends were only repelled by their Priests and Bishops’ barriers but their powers weren’t powerful enough to change the corrupted ones back to their human and elven forms._

_There was only one person in history that was powerful enough to do such a thing._

_“Mitsuhide-sama?” One male NPC asked in wonder. “You’ve returned to save us all, haven’t you?”_

_Kise twitched. He seriously contemplated whether or not he should impersonate the Cleric, but he realized that doing so may bring along more trouble than it’s worth._

_“I’m not―”_

_“Thank you so much Mitsuhide-sama!” came a screech, cutting the blond Guild Leader off. It was a female Elf, with long red hair and bright eyes. She was dressed in the standard Archer clothing, albeit being covered with dirt and twigs and blood._

_She latched onto Kise’s arm, tugging him in one direction. “I beg you! Please save the people of my village!”_

_[Oh hell no…] Kise thought with annoyance. The only reason he came here was because he had gotten a quest from that Mitsuhide fellow, now he was being hauled to some unknown NPC village to do what?_

_“Where is your village?” He ended up asking, not of his own will, but because of the damn game system. Kise suddenly got the urge to rip out his own tongue._

_Immediately, the Elven female (and the other Elves) broke out in tears of joy and cheering, Kise rolling his eyes at their not-so creative programming. So, after a few, Kise followed closely behind the NPC, heading to their village. He was a bit upset, since, in order to get Mirai’s Katana, the King of the country has to issue him the quest. How will he meet the King? Maybe these NPC were the ones who somehow aided in this quest. But if they didn’t and only delay him, he’ll raze their village to the ground._

_He wanted to buff them with “Aura of the Swift” to get to the village faster since their caravan and horses were destroyed and killed. And he couldn’t use his Travel Runes either because it’ll just be a waste._

_After thirty minutes of walking, the group ended up at a village, the outer walls were made out of wood and iron, extending a good couple metres into the air._

_Entering through the vaulted access gate, Kise saw exactly how poor this village was. There were small one-roomed houses with barn sheds in a cluster around these houses, and behind the houses were ploughed fields and pastures. The population here were primarily Elves, with a couple humans mixed in here and there._

_When the group finally caught the eyes of the residents, a huge commotion occurred, seeing that they were unscathed._

_“Sophie-chan! You are unharmed!” one male shouted in glee when he saw the same redhead that begged Kise to come to the village._

_[Oh, so her name is Sophie, huh…] Kise thought with a nod._

_“Yes, it’s all thanks to Mitsuhide-sama!” she shrieked._

_Kise did a double take. “Hold on just a minute! I’m Raiden! Not Mitsuhide!”_

_The Elven male looked at Kise in reverence. “It is an honour to meet you, Mitsuhide-sama.”_

_[This fucker just ignored me! Mou~ even in the virtual world, I’m being ignored!] Kise inwardly whined. Giving up, Kise sighed and replied, “Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too.” He bowed at the Elf, which elicited a screech from him._

_“No! No! There’s no need to bow to me! I’m just a lowly farmer in comparison to you!”_

_“Ah…”_

_“Let’s not dilly-dally!” Sophie started; she tugged on Kise’s coat sleeve in an attempt to pull him further into the village. The other Elves had run off somewhere, either alerting the village that “Mitsuhide” had come back from the dead, or that he’s here to heal their sick or someshit._

_Kise rolled his eyes with disgust. [Why couldn’t I do this_ after _I get those Katana?] He groaned inwardly as though feeling pain, it seems that no matter what he does, he’ll be delayed. On that note, he opened a map to see where his guildmates were and nearly fainted when he saw that there were five who seemed to be following in his footsteps._

_A distressed sigh escaped his lips, as not because he didn’t expect this from them (he really did see it coming), but because if they were to step foot in this forest and get infected by a fiend it won’t end well._

_But, before he could do anything, he was pushed to the Village Chief or Lord or whatever they called it here. The old Elf bowed respectively before Kise, showing his reverence._

_“Ah, you don’t need to do that!” the blond shrieked and proceeded to aid the old man to his feet._

_“But, you’re the Great Mitsuhide. You’re the one who saved our world years ago. How could I not bow?”_

_“Because I told you so.” Kise deadpanned. But of course, the NPC was unfazed given the programming. He then said, not of his own will but of the class programming. “I was told that this village needed help. What is it that I can do?”_

_“Ah yes!” the old man ―Chief Luc―perked. “Many of our villagers have been infected with the Fiendish Curse and our Priests and Bishops can only do so much and no more. Please, I beseech you, save my village!”_

_“I will do my best.” Kise said in a solemn voice. Yet again, the blond was in inner turmoil because this was getting from bad to worse. His mouth kept springing out things that he didn’t want, all because he had to go with the flow of the game._

_Kise was then led out of the Village Chief’s house along the dirt road, the houses decreased as they went along, signalling that these people who were infected were in quarantine. And the further along they went, the blond could feel the heavy atmosphere of the curse. It reminded Kise of miasma, thick and poisonous. Even at one point, the Village Chief was unable to go on any further, as he couldn’t withstand the miasma. The Priests and Bishops of the village had erected a barrier in hopes of containing the poisonous air to one place._

_But Kise was shocked at this. He wondered if Mitsuhide really had his back as he said, or it is because he apparently had the Divine Blessing, but the miasma steered clear of him. When he reached to the back of the village where the miasma was at its thickest, he saw Priests and Bishops with their barriers up, struggling to keep the curse away._

_When they turned and saw him, like everyone before, they all looked at him shock and revere._

_“Man, I guess when you save the entire world and come back from the dead; this is the treatment you’ll get huh?” Kise mumbled to himself._

_“Mi-Mi-Mitsuhide-sama?” one male Bishop said with a stutter._

_“Yeah, that’s me.” Kise replied. Denying it won’t make it a difference, so why the hell not? “I’m here to save this village.” Without hitch, Kise was led to the inside of a grand house, where on numerous beds were the sick and ailing. Parts of their skins were already corroding; there were others that had to be strapped down because their aggression was increasing._

_Immediately, Kise headed further into the room, and once more used his “Purification: Tranquil Retribution”. The large spell circle appeared on the floor and a bright light followed soon after. This time, the pillar of light extended through the roof and into the air, in Kise’s mind, he was probably purifying the air as well._

_With a shrug (not that he could really), he continued to feed the magic circle MP and after a minute or two passed, he stopped when the pop up indicated that the NPC and surrounding areas were completely purified._

_“Hoo…” Kise said as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Healing that many people was taxing, given that it sapped his MP due to them being so heavily afflicted._

_“Mitsuhide-sama…” one of the Priests said, crumbling on her knees with tears streaming down her cheeks. “…thank you so much.”_

_“Sure.” Kise fake-smiled. “But can I go now?”_

_Just then, the System announced: « New Achievement: The Selfless Healer. For healing the sick and corrupted of Dorun Village. »_

_Kise rolled his eyes. As he moved off from the Priests and Bishops, he was met with yet another surprise. Apart from the residents jumping and cheering in joy, Luc came up to him with a serious look on his face._

_“Mitsuhide-sama,” he started. “His Majesty is here to see you.”_

_Kise grinned. [Fucking finally!]_

_Reaching the village chief’s house, Kise was greeted by the King, a tall and sturdy looking man, donned in golden robes and a crown ―the typical look of a King in children’s storybooks._

_“Hello, Your Majesty.” Kise’s mouth rattled off yet again. “It’s an honour to meet you.” [As if!] Kise thought._

_“No, it’s my pleasure to meet you, O Great Mitsuhide.” The King bowed._

_[Heeh? I really should research more on this Mitsuhide character. The reverence is astounding]. Kise thought._

_“But onto serious matters.” The King started. “My country is overrun with fiends, corrupting my people, flora and fauna.”_

_[I can see that]. Kise thought sourly._

 

In the real world, the teams and his parents were howling with laughter at the blond’s behaviour. As a matter of fact, hearing Kise’s inner thoughts ever since he’s stepped foot into the forest was classic.

It eased the worry that was building up, but one thing was for sure, looking at Kise’s face while he had those thoughts got the teams wondering: _Is that what he’s like in the real world as well?_ For sure, in the game, Kise was all smiles with sparkles and flowers, but his inner thoughts were savage and brutal.

 

_“But that’s not all. The Arcana which protects this world have been losing their power due to the Kyoudaina of the Dark World’s corruption. I beg you, please save my country.”_

_“I will, Your Majesty.” Kise frowned. His mouth just wouldn’t shut up._

_In that moment, a text box popped up: « Quest added: Save the Kingdom of Bretagne from the Fiends. »_

_Kise had a satisfied look on his face, given that this was where he would head off to find those Katana._

_“Also, I personally think that you should retrieve the Dual Katana of the Sword God, Mirai-sama. It is sealed within the Temple, North of here. Here’s a map on how to locate the it.” The aged King handed him a tattered looking map which looked as old as the King himself. Kise placed it in his Item Storage._

_“Thank you. But I don’t deserve Mirai’s Katana. He wielded them better than I ever would.” Kise’s mouth ran off again._

_The King laughed. “Have you forgotten? They were created by you in the first place.”_

_Kise’s eyebrow rose at this. He’s read about the FaithKeeper and OathKeeper but didn’t read this part being that he was rushing. What a revelation this is._

_“Reincarnating made my memory hazy, you know?” he chuckled. [So Mitsuhide created Mirai’s Katana…and the Arcana? How powerful was this character?] Kise thought with a grin._

_Ignoring Kise’s statement, the King wished luck on his perilous journey, missing the grin that was spread across the blond’s pretty face. Even the villagers wished him well, and told him to stop by after this ordeal was finished. Kise was sure that he won’t, but seeing that there might be something else within this village, he thought of reconsidering._

_“Bye, bye!” he chirped as he exited through the vaulted gate. As soon as he was out of eye-shot, Kise thought back on the words of the King about Mitsuhide. He didn’t care that it seemed like he was Mitsuhide’s reincarnate or something, what excited him was the fact that Mitsuhide made the Sword God’s Katana._

_This was all too wonderful for him to keep still. [Oh, Unseen Nightmare, I can’t wait to meet you again after this!]_

_The blond teen burst into hysterical laughter, as he thought up different ways to slaughter Unseen Nightmare._

 

Ryouhei whistled at the scene. “Slaughter his ass as soon as possible my Precious Sunshine." he cooed. "But I like how my baby boy is revered as a god. I'm satisfied.”

“Indeed.” Akashi agreed. “Although, I’m a bit surprised at Ryouta’s behaviour. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Yeah, Kise seems like the sunshine and rainbows kind of guy.” Takao joined in.

“You fools!” Ritsuko broke out in hysterical laughter, making the teams present think realize that Kise was just as crazy as she was. “You have no idea who my precious sunshine is.” She then sent a smug smirk. “Are you really his friends?”

Everyone was silenced at that. Especially the Generation of Miracles. Hearing it was truly hurtful, because they _knew_ that they didn’t know the blond as they should have. It was maybe because he joined the club in his second year or something, but really, they never took the time out to know him better. Probably because they deemed him to be annoying, irritating and repulsive.

It was then that it pained their hearts to find out that they never really _knew_ who Kise Ryouta was. Focusing back to the monitors, they saw Kise spring off into the forest with his Holy Sceptre in hand, and so far, he hadn't encountered any fiend. But as he raced through the thicket, nimbly jumped from tree branch to tree branch like a gymnast on the uneven bars, the blond skidded to a halt when he spotted something in the near distance. 

The creature was half the size of the sky-scraping trees, with a body covered in thick plates of armour. Its numerous eyes were bulging outwards ―their colour was a poisonous red, with thick black lines running from what seemed to be pupil to the edge of the eyelids. It was a disgusting creature, and Kise shivered as he saw it.

Just then the System Announced:   _« You have stumbled upon the Rotting Carcass of the Mutated Horse. »_

_Kise made a frown. This was a boss albeit a "mini" one. "Well, let's get to work." He said as he drew his both his Katana that he'd purchased from the NPC store. He then buffed the blades with "Aura of the Strong" so as to not have the break in battle. Darting forwards, Kise made a leap into the air before spinning seeming like a tornado. He was going to use his "Tornado Strike."_

_"Now be a good monster and die for me." The blond mumbled as his blades came in contact with the creature's armour._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	13. The Katana of the Sword God

Chapter 13

_The Katana of the Sword God_

…

Those in the real world gaped at the monitors in absolute shock. While they knew that Kise was a damn badass in the game, witnessing this type of slaughter was just too surprising. Especially that it was _Kise_. He was supposed to be sunshine and rainbows as Takao would put it, all smiles and fluff…but not in Arcanum. He was a monster, cold-hearted and bloodthirsty.

The blond guild leader stood amidst dead bodies, splotches of blood donning his clothing, and skin. The crimson liquid dripped off his katana as he dragged them along, making his way to a shivering fiend in the corner.

He had just killed the Mutated Horse and all its minions, but for some reason, although there were drops and EXP and gold, the bodies refused to disappear into pixelated fragments.

But, Kise couldn’t give a shit.

“That…that’s _Kise?”_ Kagami asked in shock. He then looked across to the Miracles. “Who the hell is that?!” the redhead felt as though his eyes were betraying him — _them._ Everybody knew what the blond was like on a court in a heated match (cue Inter-High match against Touou and Winter Cup semi-final against Seirin) but this…this was like seeing someone _completely different._

The blond was absolutely merciless in his slaughter, and what was worse, there was not one shred of emotion in his eyes. There was no anger, sadness…nothing. He was as expressionless as Kuroko.

“That’s my precious son, Kise Ryouta, dear Kagami-kun.” Ryouhei answered in-a-matter-of-factly. The family didn’t seem too perturbed by what they saw, the teams guessing that they’ve seen Kise like that too many times.

“But…he’s not like the one I know.” He managed to stutter out.

Ryouhei chuckled. “He gets worse.” He broke out in full blown laughter upon seeing their expressions. “Trust me, you lot have a lot to learn.”

 _“Yosh! Now that’s out of my way, where to next?” Kise said to himself as he opened up the map that the King gave him. Examining it, he realized that the Priestess Arcana was located within the Shrine along with Mirai’s Katana, however, that’s where the final boss of the area is as well. Kise inwardly cursed, being that he had hoped to get the Katana and Arcana first,_ then _he goes to slaughter to final boss with some ease._

_But no, he has to fight the final boss with sub-par weapons (if they lasted that long) and hopefully survive. This journey would take a lot of out him, given that he was alone and could only rely on his Clerical skills as his Swordsmaster skills will more than likely break the Katana._

_“Man, SuperSonic knows how to fuck with players, don’t they?” he hissed._

At this, those watching agreed wholeheartedly. But then again, if Kise’s original Katana hadn’t broke, then perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad now.

_He continued on in the murky forest, but to his relief, the condensation of fiends weren’t as thick as he’d thought. [It seems like the Mutated Horse was dragging them here or something] he thought._

_Soon, he came up on a wall which had a huge iron door embedded within. Cautiously, the blond walked up to the door and searched for a way to enter. There was no lock, no handle, nothing._

_“So, how do I get this open? Huh?!” he said as he banged on the metal plates. “I don’t have time to waste!” He felt around in hopes of unlocking some hidden lock or whatever, but there was none._

_In that instant, his body glowed with a white light like before in the forest. His hand then moved on its own to the centre of the construct. Frightened, Kise used his other hand to draw a Katana, because he didn’t know what lies beyond that door._

_As soon as his palm came in contact with it, a trail of the same white light ran along the crevices of the door, illuminating it. Soon, the doors were shining brightly and a faint spell circle appeared in the midst of it. But as soon as it appeared it disappeared before the majestic doors swung open._

_Kise regained control of his right arm and immediately, he drew the other Katana. He marched in slowly, eyes scanning the area for any strange movement or creature. So far, there was nothing, and he was grateful._

_The tunnel was dark, but not too dark where vision was impaired. He could make out outlines of bushes and trees, stones and other organic things. But the moment he exited that tunnel, he was assaulted by a horde of golems. Although they were big and bulky, their movements were swift and irregular, giving Kise a hard time to land a killing strike._

_Within a flash, Kise saw the earth monsters make a giant leap into the air, with their fists together at their chests. Quickly, the blond Cleric ducked out of the way, but when he had done so, he saw them stopped and stilled._

_“Hmm?” Kise hummed in confusion. He had his Katana poised and ready, but he knew he couldn’t just attack them like that. He had to see what trick they had up their sleeves. Then, he saw them glow with a faint green colour which prompted him to buff his legs with “Aura of the Strong” after which he jumped up into the air to avoid the attack._

_It was common knowledge to any gamer that a golem’s element is Earth and given that they just glowed green not too long ago, Kise knew that their attack would have_ something _emerging from the ground._

_And so it was._

_Thick and twisted vine-like roots emerged from the ground in an attempt to snatch Kise, quickly; the blond used his “Tornado Strike” to slice the ones closest to him as he descended to the ground. When he safely landed, he then used “Holy Reprisal” to clear them out. It worked, but given the sheer number of them, Kise still had to head out and use his Katana to cut down the rest._

 “Stay safe, Ryou-baby!” Ritsuko screeched. She hadn’t gone to work, as she knew she won’t be able to concentrate knowing full well what her son was going through. As a matter of fact, there would be no penalty for those who had a close family member within the game, given how dire the situation has become. Ryouhei was the same, although he didn’t need to show up for work, since he owned a publishing house.

_Kise left the area without hesitation, his movements were erratic with urgency. He dashed along the path, and upon rounding a corner, he stumbled upon a grand arch, and beyond that, he could see faint glows of orange and red._

_In that moment, the System announced: « You have reached the Bed of Chaos »._

_“Well, hell.” Kise muttered._

“Hell is right.” Kasamatsu sighed. “I just hope that he stays safe.”

“I know right.” Kobori agreed. “Even though if he dies, he’ll get revived, I don’t think I’ll be able to bear seeing him vanish still.”

The others nodded in agreement. Ryouhei looked at the boys with amazement. Here they were everyday since this happened, watching his son’s progress and praying for his wellbeing. He knew that Kaijou were a given, but for the others like Seirin and Takao, he never knew that Kise had friends elsewhere as well. Plus, school was reopening soon, and there were the third years from Kaijou here. Shouldn’t they be preparing for university entrance exams?

But, the older Kise shook his head to rid these thoughts. He knew that university entrance exams mean shit to Kaijou when they know their ace is in danger.

_xxxx_

**_[Bed of Chaos]_ **

Kise was one step closer to the boss of the Area. The entrance was a cave opening, and quickly, yet cautiously, Kise made his way inwards. Gathering some distance, the blond noticed that he hasn’t encountered a monster yet. Reaching the end of the corridor, Kise noticed that there was a cliff and on the other side of the cliff there were two ledges that he could jump onto.  However, the higher ledge was blocked with a metal bar that had a key lock in the middle. Which meant, he couldn’t get pass it unless he had a key.

Kise cursed in annoyance. If this weren’t a tragic situation where they’re trapped in the game, he would have been ecstatic at the adventure, but gosh, at the moment he was not amused. So, without any further ado, Kise walked to the edge of the cliff and jumped, going onto the lower path. Yet again, there were no monsters here, but Kise had a terrible feeling. He continued onwards, only to stumble upon an opening. Before him was a pool of thick red liquid and thick protruding juts from the walls going upwards like stepping stones. The only way to go was up since it was a dead-end.

Before Kise moved off, he felt himself freeze for a while and wondered if it was momentary lag. But within a split second the feeling was gone and he could move. So, jumping onto the first ledge, Kise noticed that the pool of red was moving upwards, seeming to want to fill the entire area.

Ignoring that, the blond continued upwards, walking on the protrusion to get to the next.  However, at that moment, a small monster with fire around its body appeared from above, halting the blond in place. With a quick slash, Kise knocked the creature backwards, but it didn’t kill it. The blond Cleric dashed towards it in its stunned state, and landed three more blows before it turned into gold and EXP.

Heaving a relief, Kise continued, but he didn’t realize that the red liquid had caught up. It grazed his foot and what happened next left Kise screaming in utter shock.

A good amount of his HP was taken, and swiftly, the blond darted in panic towards the next protrusion while healing himself of the damage. More of the little creatures came at him to halt his progress, but Kise won’t have any of it. He killed some; he avoided some and went on his (not so) merry way.

Luckily, Kise made it to top of the area before the pool of red and collected the key which was nestled on a platform to the right hand corner.  Quickly grabbing it, the pool of red was halted and another passage way opened up. Going through it, he ended back at square one, at the cliff with the two paths before him.

With a grin, the Guild Leader jumped onto the upper path and inserted the key into the lock. The metal bar went up into the ceiling, allowing Kise to pass.

…

The search and rescue party of Awesome Singularity, Amused Sharpshooter, Runic Night, Mysterious Hooligan and Ben flew through the air at a blinding speed. They were all on griffons, split into two groups —Amused Sharpshooter with Awesome Singularity and Ben, the other griffon had the other two. Since Kise wasn’t here to buff them with “Aura of the Swift”, they had opted to use the winged creatures to get closer to “Raiden” quickly.

Since Amused Sharpshooter, Runic Night and Mysterious Hooligan had griffons and Pegasus’, they opted to alternate the use of the creatures as sadly, in the game, one can only use a Pegasus for four hours, and a Griffon for five. But, they wouldn’t need to use them for that long anyway.

Thanks to the Teleport Gate in Murata and high-grade Travel Runes, like Kise, the party had reached Bretagne within no time. However, unlike Kise, they didn’t encounter any fiend or the Mutated Horse. What they stumbled upon was their corpses, which of course, was killed by the blond Guild Leader.

“What the hell is this carnage?” Runic Night said as he covered his nose and mouth. “It looks like Rai passed through.”

“How…” Awesome Singularity broke off as the stench was next to unbearable. “…do you know that?” she said quickly in one breath.

“Rai is a slaughter machine. When he wants something, he’ll cut down anything in his way to get it. _Mercilessly.”_ Mysterious Hooligan answered, his face was turning green from the putrid smell of the area.

“Uhm,” Ben then spoke up. “I’m sorry to interrupt this information session, but Chizuka-san, could you use your spell to get us to Raiden-san? I’m suffocating here.”

“Right.” The Swordswoman nodded. Using her Sorcerer subclass, Awesome Singularity used a spell “ _Call of Ally_ ”. Only Sorcerers could do this and this spell enables the caster to teleport themselves and a party to another member of the same guild or party. It was convenient, because Travel Runes only teleport to one general area, and Teleport Gates are connected with each other.

However, instead of teleporting directly to Kise or in the nearest area to the blond; the group hadn’t moved an inch from where they were.

“Eh? What?” Awesome Singularity asked out in shock.

Mysterious Hooligan ran a hand through his hair in distress, “The bastard is on a quest, that’s what.” He sighed. “And if he doesn’t invite us to join him, we can’t get to where he is via teleport.”

“ _And,”_ Amused Sharpshooter added, “Knowing Rai, he _isn’t_ going to invite us even if we call him right now.”

Yet, that was another aspect of the game. One player is able to receive a quest, but if, along the way he or she needs assistance, a quest invite can be sent out to other players allowing them to join in.

“So what do we do now?” Runic Night asked as he took a seat on a fallen tree nearby. “I mean, we could take a risk and continue, hoping that we may stumble upon him, but given that this place has a fiend infestation…” he trailed off purposely. “…and we don’t even have a map of this place.”

“Couldn’t we get the same quest that he’s gotten or something? I remember Keisei-san saying that once he enters Bretagne, he’d automatically trigger a quest or something…” Ben suggested. “Couldn’t it —?”

“It won’t.” Mysterious Hooligan replied with a shake of the head. The Swordsman walked over to Runic Night, and took a seat beside the Warrior. “The quest is to get Mirai’s Katana. Only a Swordsmaster could trigger it. Plus,” he added, “Even if you’re a Swordsmaster and come here, if you don’t have a Cleric with you, you won’t be able to get the quest let alone the reward.”

“Eh!?”

“Yeah…” he continued. “…I found out about it when I was scrolling through my skill set and shit.” He nodded. “Since Mitsuhide’s party was one with four people, if a Swordsmaster wanted Mirai’s Katana, a Cleric is needed to be in the party as well. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know either.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Amused Sharpshooter said. “Why would anyone need a Cleric just to get two powerful weapons? I could understand if they said it was because of the fiends or someshit, but what does a Cleric have to do with Mirai’s Katana?”

“Beats me.” Mysterious Hooligan sighed. “Maybe if we had more knowledge of Mirai or even Mitsuhide then we could see the reason behind it.”

“You know, on that note,” Runic Night began. “I’ve been thinking.”

“On what?”

“To beat this game and whatever, if you’re not a Cleric, you’ll need to get Mitsuhide’s grimoire to get _The_ _Fool_ Arcana to help with the purification or someshit, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“But in Rai’s grimoire, _The Fool_ is there. And I don’t remember hearing him say he went to get Mitsuhide’s grimoire. Only his.”

“That’s right.” Amused Sharpshooter nodded in realization. “So does that mean Rai already has Mitsuhide’s grimoire? Or is it because he’s a Cleric, _The Fool_ is placed in his grimoire since he’d naturally have some purification skills?”

Awesome Singularity let out a gasp of shock. “Mitsuhide was a Cleric, right? He had a grimoire in which the only Arcana — _The Fool_ — remained within unlike the other twenty odd. So wouldn’t that mean, Raiden-kun is, I don’t know, another Mitsuhide or something?”

“That’s a bit —”

“ _Think_ about it.” She urged. “That grimoire was a must for Raiden-kun to get. I’m thinking that maybe, the answers lie in the Lore that so many of us neglected to read.”

“Well, since we have nothing better to do, why don’t we head to the Archives to read up more?” Ben shrugged. “I mean, staying here won’t take us to Raiden-san.”

“Yeah, but let’s kill some fiends while we’re at it.” Runic Night said as he got up and stretched. “I didn’t come all the way here to leave empty-handed.”

“Exactly.” Mysterious Hooligan said with a grin. “I’m just two levels away from Swordsmaster, if anything, as soon as Rai finishes his quest, we can do mine.”

“I just want to get to level 40 already.” Awesome Singularity frowned.

“I just want to get back to the guild.” Ben whined. “This place is scary.”

…

**_[Chamber of the Burning Flame]_ **

_Kise walked down the winding stone staircase cautiously, wary of what might spring out on him. He wasn’t even at the Boss yet and he was already exhausted. It was then that he was somewhat regretful that he didn’t have company, but then again, he didn’t want anyone else from the guild to go through something like this. It was hell, both figuratively and literally._

_Suddenly, he felt the heat graced his cheeks and the more he pressed on, the hotter it became. It had gotten to the point of him wanting to take off his coat, but he dared not do that. His coat was also regarded as armour, which absorbed the inflicted damage._

_Tip-toeing towards the door he spotted, he gently pushed it open, and what he saw left him sweating, literally. Before him was a vast of expanse of a molten river, with rocks floating and jutting upwards here and there. He jumped downwards to where he saw a boat, and whistled loudly._

_“I hope this shit is sturdy.” The blond grumbled as he steadily climbed into the small craft, letting out a shriek as it rocked to the side under his weight._

“Boy!” Ryouhei shrieked (well, as much as he could with his deep voice). “You should be wondering why there is a boat on a river of lava! Not if it’s fucking sturdy!”

The others nodded in agreement with the man, although Ritsuko smacked him on the head for swearing in front of children.

_So, using the oar provided, Kise slowly piloted down the river of lava, sweat barrelling down off his forehead which indicated how hot the place was. However, he had to buff himself with “Aura of the Strong” because the lava was so thick that it took a lot out of him without the buff to move the boat forward._

_“Fuck SuperSonic, fuck Yoshikawa, fuck that fucking Elf, fuck everything!” Kise cursed. He was tired, hot and frustrated and just wanted to get out of the place. It has only been a couple of hours since he started this quest, and honestly, he was itching to get back his guild to relax._

In the real world, those watching blanched in horror at the string of curses that erupted from the blond’s mouth.

“My precious sunshine’s mouth was so _filthy?!”_ Ritsuko gasped in horror. “I can’t believe this!”

“Ritsu!” Ryouhei shrieked as he caught his frightened wife and proceeded to fan her in hopes of resuscitating her. He looked back at the screens before him. “Now where could he have gotten that from?” the blonde male asked in shock. “I’m gonna scour that fucking mouth with bleach when he gets back here!”

The teams blanched and thought, _He got it from you, obviously._ For a fact, Ryouhei’s mouth was no better than Kise’s, the teams realized over the times they’ve spent here.

_In the midst of his cursing, Kise hadn’t noticed that Fire Fiends were emerging from the lava behind him. Reaching a bend in the river’s course, Kise heard a screech coming from behind him and saw the numerous Fire Fiends coming towards him._

_“Fuuuccccckkkk!”_

_Kise screamed and proceeded to row as fast as he could with “Aura of the Strong”. Seeing that the blond was fleeing, the Fire fiends extended their wisp-like limbs towards him, hoping to halt his progress._

_One managed to graze his shoulder, which prompted the Guild Leader to stop rowing and crouch down. He mentally cursed as the Lifesaving Brooch was ineffective in this area for some strange reason. So, instead, he equipped the “Shadow Trinket” hoping that’ll be able to save his ass if he gets attacked by something dreadful._

_He opened his grimoire and instead of taking out his Holy Sceptre, he took out his staff which he hasn’t used in what seemed to be forever. Its shaft was longer than his Sceptre with two thick protrusions that curved upwards to the clear orb that nestled at the top of the staff. He never liked using it, because of one simple reason: it looked girly._

_As the Fire Fiends came closer, with a blast of Holy Magic, Kise repelled them with ease, but with that it propelled him and the boat forwards, although he accidentally crashed into a large boulder in the river. The blond had to swiftly leap from the wreck onto the boulder to escape being burnt in the lava._

_“Shit. Can this get any worse?” Kise muttered as the Fire Fiends surrounded him on the boulder. With a smirk, the blond used his “Adamantine Binding Chains” and then charged at them, swinging his staff like a madman. He was a Swordsman; he hadn’t the slightest idea as to how to use a staff to fight. The thick protrusions sliced through their bodies leaving Kise stunned.  He stopped mid-way and stared at the weapon._

_“These parts were useful?!” he screeched in shock. “I thought they were just decorations!”_

Outside, the others roared with laughter at his comment, for a brief moment, they forgot that Kise was trapped in a game with seemingly no way out. This was Kise, the dumb blond that they all knew and loved, yet found annoying and repulsive sometimes.

_“Well, this changes things you fuckers.” Kise said as he grinned like a maniac. Within a minute, Kise had cleared out the Fire Fiends and was oozing with joy at how quickly and efficiently he was at the slaughter._

_“I can’t believe I had this beauty with me and neglected it.” He rubbed his cheek on the shaft of the staff and cooed, “I shall never doubt you again.”_

“Alright, Kise is getting creepy.” Hyuuga said with a shiver.

“I know right?” Koganei agreed.

“But really, Kise didn’t know what his own weapon was capable of?” Midorima said with an eye roll. “But, it’s within expectations.”

This was a fact, the Miracles somewhat felt relieved that they’ve finally encountered the Kise they knew. So far, they’ve been seeing a side to Kise that they knew existed and it was somewhat unnerving because who knows what _other side_ lies beneath that pretty face and airheaded personality?

_With his boat now destroyed, Kise had to rely on “Aura of the Swift” to navigate the molten river. He hopped from jutting rock to jutting rock, carefully watching his steps because if he missed, then back to the front of the forest he goes, and frankly, he couldn’t deal with that._

_A couple minutes, some more stone jumping and Fire Fiend slaughtering later, Kise could see the end of the river. However, the river flowed beneath a grand vermillion torii gate, which led to a Shrine in the distance. When the blond reached the entrance, his body glowed yet again that caused a platform to emerge from beneath the river._

_He jumped onto it and walked leisurely towards the Shrine with a grin on his face. He was almost where Mirai’s Katana and the Priestess Arcana were. All that stood in his way was a boss. That’s it._

_“And after this, I’ll be leaving this fucking hellhole.”_

_With a deep breath, he pushed the door open and entered._

“I’m getting a terrible feeling from this.” Murasakibara drawled, fiddling with his hoodie string. Ever since this, he hadn’t been eating his snacks as he lost his appetite seeing “Kise-chin” suffer like this. The others had to agree with him, but Kise was going to a Boss battle, the blond should know what he’s doing, right?

_xxxx_

When Kise opened the door, immediately he knew that he was at the boss. At first, the music changed from the adventurous upbeat tempo, to a soft piano before giving way to chilling music which had intensified with every step he took. And this only happens when players had entered a Boss’s room.

Kise had expected that when he entered the Shrine, he’d be bombarded with Monsters and had to navigate the rooms until he found the one that the boss was in. He had no idea that from the outset he’d be fighting the boss here.

“Well, all the better.” He grumbled.

The blond walked forwards along the golden tiled floor, the searing heat nearly driving the Guild Leader mad. Looking at his surroundings, it seems as though he was standing atop a platform in a lava lake, with couple smaller platforms here and there. Above were other platforms which seemed to have been joined to the wall.

The boss, however, crawled up from out of the lava, the molten rocks splattering almost everywhere, Kise having to run and duck so as to not be caught in it. When everything was settled, what Kise saw made his jaws drop in shock.

This boss was a large bug-like creature, with four thin legs at the front of its body while the rest was in the shape of a giant centipede.

_Level ???? Boss: Leviathan_

“Well…that’s disturbing.”

The Boss sprang into the air and perched on one of the platforms high in the air. It swung from left to right, Kise ducking to avoid being struck. Seeing how far the creature was, Kise once again opened up his grimoire, and pulled out his Holy Sceptre. He knew that not even with “Aura of the Strong” on his legs, he wouldn’t have been able to jump that high to strike. That meant, this battle was going to be revolving around the ranged attacks.

“Man, if only I had an Archer or Sorcerer with me.” Kise mumbled to himself. But it was too late for regrets at the moment. Amused Sharpshooter and Shameless Illusion would have been _perfect_ for this situation, but, he’d left them back at the guild.

Continuously jumping out of the way of _Leviathan_ , Kise steadied himself and when the time was right, he fired off a blast of Holy Energy at the boss. It hit the intended target clearly; however, there wasn’t an ounce of joy on Kise’s face. While he believes in his abilities, there were couple spells he couldn’t use because of where he was.

The Boss shook and shrieked, and dislodged itself from the high platform. It then lowered its body close to Kise, before spinning madly while swinging its tail at the blond. It was a fast sweeping motion, but luckily, Kise’s reaction was quick enough and he managed to roll out of the way. But, _Leviathan_ brought his tail backwards and swept the floor yet again, making the blond guild leader roll out of the way again.

However, seeing that the creature was so close to the ground platform, Kise used “Plague of Exhaustion” to weaken the boss further and the moment the gigantic bug staggered and swayed in disorientation, the blond dashed forwards with “Aura of the Swift”.  

With his Katana in hand, Kise used the “Mikazuki: Eight Moons” combo, swinging his Katana in a wide arc, forming an “X”. The Crescent Moons flew towards the Boss and inflicted damage on the boss’s outer armour. But in the midst of the attack, the Katana started to crack and ultimately they shattered and disappeared into pixelated fragments.

“Oh fuck.”

_xxxx_

“Watch out Kise!” Aomine (and the others) subconsciously shouted when they saw the tail of _Leviathan_ swinging into the blond’s direction. Sadly, their warning couldn’t have been heard and the blond was sent flying metres away, ultimately came to rest when he crashed into the wall.

He nearly fell into the pit of Lava, but luckily, a stone that had broken off from the impact prevented him from falling over. And since Kaiji —the programmer from SuperSonic—didn’t want their systems to crash; he could only remove the pain sensors from Kise’s avatar. The blond guild leader would still bleed even though he won’t be experiencing excruciating pain along with it.

_“Ugh,” Kise groaned as he struggled to get up. Add that to it, the heat of the area was unbearable. “Fuck,”_

_Leviathan then ascended back to the platform, and Kise watched with anger. When he finally made it onto his feet, Kise grit his teeth leaving the Shadow Trinket to do its job. He didn’t want to use his MP to heal himself, worse now that his Katana were broken._

_Kise dashed towards the boss and stood directly beneath him. Common fact was that creatures with near impenetrable armour always had weak underbellies. He used his “Adamantine Binding Chains” to hold the creature in place and then forcibly pulled it down from its perch. It took a lot out of him, and he was even using “Aura of the Strong”. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he took shaky steps backwards._

_Leviathan screamed and cried out, thrashed all over the place in rage. At this, Kise didn’t see when the creature had its mouth open, after which multiple blasts of Lava emerged, zeroing on Kise as their target._

“Get out of there, Ryou!” Ritsuko screeched absolute horror. “You’ll get burned!”

_These blasts were large —massive, even. Kise’s eyes snapped open when he felt the immense heat coming towards him. With a gasp, Kise released his chains and dashed away from them, but they followed his every move._

_Reaching at a corner of the room, Kise spun and brought up his shield in an attempt to at least moderate the amount of damage that would be done to him. However, Kise had an idea. Swiftly taking out his Sceptre, the blond fired off Holy Energy at the balls, making their size diminish greatly before coming towards him._

The teams in the real world heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that Kise prevented his demise. But, they were getting more scared the longer this battle raged on.

Yet again, they saw Kise charge at the creature, using his various buffs and Clerical skills to damage the boss somewhat, however, he was brutally thrown into the wall sometimes, he was grabbed by Leviathan and nearly eaten sometimes, he was battered and bruised far too much, leaving his friends and family wondered If he was going to get killed. Many times they had to close their eyes and cover their ears as the scenes were becoming pretty worrisome, but then they remembered that this was Kise.

The badass Cleric and moreover, the ace of Kaijou and copycat of the Generation of Miracles; he wasn’t going to go down that easily.

_Using “Plague of Exhaustion”, Kise made the boss fall to the platform once again, and in that moment, he used “Holy Reprisal”. The boss screamed and shrieked and all manner of things at the painful attack, he then used “Purification: Tranquil Retribution” for further and prolonged damage._

_Since his Katana were gone and he didn’t know exactly how durable his staff was, Kise maxed out his MP on these two spells to effectively kill the boss, the Chaotic Wizard: Leviathan._

“It’s dead! It’s dead!”  Moriyama screamed in delight as he grabbed Kasamatsu and shook him violently. The room erupted into cheers and applause, happy that their blond friend had come to the end of this perilous journey.

_xxxx_

When the boss’s health bars had emptied, the creature disappeared into pixelated fragments, with EXP, gold and drops remaining in its place. Kise grinned at this, the EXP earning him a total of two levels, and the two drops — _The Scorched Ring of Leviathan, The Singed Shield of Leviathan_ —were going to be damn useful in the future. The ring enabled the wearer to be immune to all fire attacks, and able to tread in fire without being harmed. As for the shield, it was made out of the armour of Leviathan, with a frightening defense level.

Quickly collecting these, Kise saw that there was an opening in the furthest wall, which indicated to him that that’s probably where Mirai’s Katana lay.

With a hum, Kise skipped towards it, thinking that all was safe.

Once again, he walked down a tunnel, but unlike before, this tunnel was brightly lit with blue crystals, creating the illusion that the walk would have been peaceful.

_Swish._

Kise’s head whipped around so fast at the sound, he paused in his tracks to assess his surroundings. He found nothing out of the ordinary, and continued towards the door he saw. He walked briskly, not wanting to linger and get attacked.

Exiting from the tunnel into an area, Kise reached at the door, but what he noticed was that the floor of the area was like glass. He examined it carefully, and found that although it looked fragile, it was quite durable. So, he refocused his attention on the door that had a magic circle carved in the middle.

“So, isn’t this where my body glows that white light?” Kise mumbled recounting the event that happened earlier at the door which led to the Bed of Chaos. However, sinister and twisted vines of a bluish colour slithered their way to the blond who was busy fussing himself at the door.

Then, with swift movements, the vines latched around Kise’s limbs —even his neck—dragging him from the door. Kise struggled and fought, but even with “Aura of the Strong”, it was difficult. One reason, there was a vine around his neck, and the more he resisted, the tighter it squeezed, seeming as though it wanted to strangle him.

At this moment, Kise’s entire body glowed with the light, but unlike prior times, the light was extremely bright. Kise tugged against the vine at his neck, in a futile attempt to get free. Another vine latched around his torso, squeezing the breath out of him.

“Sh—sh—shit…” Kise hissed breathlessly as he didn’t see a way out of this mess.  He closed his eyes, almost giving up; when he heard a voice said something to him.

_Don’t give up, Raiden._

Frightened, Kise’s eyes snapped open, but what he didn’t realize was that even his eyes were glowing white. A gust of Holy Magic spun around his body at this moment; the vines receded from the boy, leaving a panting and heaving Kise on the glassy floor. He then crawled to the door and placed a palm on the door in the centre of the magic circle.

And like before, the white light trailed from his body onto the door, completely filling the magic circle and other creases. It swung open with a loud boom, Kise entering the dark chamber.

Just then, the System announced: _« You have entered The Sacred Room of Persephone »._

As Kise looked on, he spotted her — _The High Priestess, Persephone._

She sat at the gate before what is only known as the Great Mystery, in between Light and Darkness, represented by two great pillars —one black, the other, white. The tapestry which hung between the pillars was tattered and torn, looking dull and worn out. The area around Persephone’s feet was decayed, and when Kise trailed his eyes up to see what she looked like, he was distraught.

Her skin was grey, dull and lifeless, shrivelled like that of an old witch. Most of her hair had fallen out, her hakama looked pale and nasty, what Kise deduced to be a haori was of a dark grey colour, and looked decayed like the area around her. In short, Persephone looked _awful._

 _She looks like shit!_ Kise thought in alarm. _Goodness!_

Kise walked towards her, not because he wanted the Katana and leave this place, but because his body moved on its own. When he was close enough to her, he stretched out a hand to touch her head. Kise cringed at cold sensation, and at the moment, no one could tell Kise that Persephone was alive. This level of cold body temperature matched Death itself.

As Kise’s hand came in contact with her, she let out a soft, pained wail, as a black liquid ran from her closed eyes.

“What the fuck is that?!” Kise screeched in shock and fear. He tried to pull away, but his body was stubborn. In an instant, a large white magic circle appeared beneath the two and Kise realized that it was his spell that he’d unlocked since coming on this quest — _Purification: Ethereal Cleanse._ The white light shot up out of the magic circle, through the ceiling and into the sky.

Persephone screamed at this but Kise never budged. All the black and gunk, decay and corruption were being burnt off; a black substance was being ripped from her mouth as well. Kise’s eyes widened as Persephone’s true form was coming back.

She wore a red pleated hakama which was tied above her waist with a prominent bow at the front. Her haori was white with red sode-kukuri on the sleeves and the split-open shoulders —the traditional costume of a Japanese Miko. She had long, beautiful black hair done in the “Hime cut”, which drew the blond’s attention to her bright eyes. 

The light intensified, and spread like a shockwave from Persephone, extending all the way outwards to even places where Kise couldn’t see. Thick black wisps emerged from her, and immediately, Kise was prompted by the system to use _The Fool._ Opening his grimoire, Kise pulled out the card, and held it out before him. Frankly, he didn’t know how to use _The Fool._ There was no instruction, no skills that came with the Arcana, it was just _there,_ sitting in his grimoire.

The arcane card hovered in the air in front of Kise, and all the corruption was sucked within it like a vacuum. While this was happening, a strange rune-like purple marking appeared on Kise’s right upper arm without the blond’s knowledge.  

After a minute more, the light faded, and a beautiful Persephone sat before Kise, with a smile on her face. The entire area had been purified ―lush green grass with beautiful flowers of all different species adorned the ground, there fruit trees here and there― Persephone’s chamber had totally transformed from a creepy haunted house to a paradise within seconds.

 _“Mitsuhide-sama,”_ her voice was soft and calming. But one thing Kise noticed was that her mouth hadn’t opened once. Yet, he was hearing her voice. _“Thank you.”_

“You’re welcome Perse.” Kise’s mouth replied. The blond inwardly chuckled at the nickname. “I couldn’t leave you like this much longer, you know? Plus, we’ve got work to do.”

Persephone smiled at her creator before getting up off the chair in which she sat. _“I have been guarding Mirai-san’s Katana all these years,”_ she started as she pushed her tapestry to the side, beckoning to Kise to enter through the pillars. _“I never imagined that the one who would come for it would have been you.”_

“La Terre is in danger, again.” Kise’s mouth said. He walked up to her and entered the dark space, the blond fretting as his body had moved yet again. “That’s why I’m here.”

 _“I know, Mitsuhide-sama. I know.”_ She smiled. When she followed him inside, candles automatically lit up, illuminating the room. There, before him were the Dual Katana of The Sword God. With a hysteric scream, Kise bolted towards it and as he touched it, everything else disappeared, leaving only him and the Katana.

Soon, a man manifested before him ―he was tall with shoulder length brown hair and warm green eyes. He was dressed in the colours of a King, red and gold, although his clothing screamed Swordsmaster. Immediately, Kise knew who this man was ―Akiyama Mirai, the man revered as The Sword God.

“Wow, Mitsu. You look like you haven’t aged a day.” Mirai greeted with a boyish grin. “Looking young and fresh.”

“Well, I _did_ perfect my spell.” Kise’s mouth replied with pride.

Mirai’s face then took on a solemn expression. “It’s been quite a while, huh. Since we saved the world, I mean.”

“Yeah. I remember it as though it was just yesterday.” Kise’s voice took a sad and remorseful tone here. But the blond was pretty shocked at how quickly the conversation moved from a lighthearted and playful greeting to a dark and serious one. “I don’t know if I can do it this time, Mirai. I mean, _you_ won’t be with me, nor Ayumu or Ryuusei. It’ll be just me and the Arcana.”

 _God! Just shut the fuck up and let me get the Katana, already! I have a fucking guild, why do I need to be reminiscing about those other dead guys!?_ Kise cursed in his head.

“Don’t worry Mitsu. I’m sure you’ll find some help.” Mirai smiled sadly. “After all, you managed to get us back then, right?”

“That was then, this is now.” Kise’s mouth ran off. “Who’d be willing to join me?”

“You’d be surprised, Mitsu. Plus, Ayumu and Ryuusei left behind their weapons as well. You should go look for them as well.”

Kise gasped. “Where?!” He knew that Ayumu was a Warrior and used a lethal pair of blades while Ryuusei was a monstrous Archer. It’ll awesome for his guild if he collects those.

He then started to fade away, after which he said, “You really have a frightening intuition, Mitsu.” He chuckled. “The world does need you again. So go, and don’t let me see your face on the other side too quickly.”

At that moment, a text box appeared: _« Quest added: Save the world from the corruption of the Dark World and defeat the Dark Emperor. »_

“You know that won’t happen.” The blond’s mouth ran off yet again, Kise inwardly bawling that he just triggered the quest to conquer the game.

“It shouldn’t. I need to hear stories about your children and grandchildren.”

“Will do!”

“So, see you later, Mitsu.”

“Yeah, see you.”

And with that, Mirai’s apparition faded away completely, tears running down Kise’s cheek as the man left. The Cleric looked odd, a face full of impatience and annoyance, yet he was crying. When Mirai was completely gone, Persephone’s place re-appeared and the Priestess was still where Kise left her. He took the two Katana and grinned deviously.

The Katana on his left ― _FaithKeeper: Hope of the Guiding Light_ ―was water attributed and the hilt is wrapped with a black cloth in traditional ito (braid) overlaying the blue wooden surface. A sapphire gem was embedded in each space of the braid. The hand-guard was a smooth and calming blue with intricate ornate designs. The scabbard was made from wood with a blue high gloss lacquered finish. Unsheathing it, the white blade gleamed majestically in the dimly lit room, and Kise now realized why it was called “Guiding Light”. It was damn bright.

The other Katana ― _OathKeeper: Carver of Suffering’s End_ ―was lightning attributed and like the FaithKeeper, the hilt was wrapped with black cloth in a traditional ito style, but OathKeeper had yellow tourmaline gems embedded instead of sapphire. The hand-guard offered a polished gold colour with an intricate design while the scabbard features a rich tangerine colour. Like FaithKeeper, the blade was also white.

Excited, Kise decided to open up the skills that came with the Katana and stumbled upon something horrific. More than half of the skills were still locked since he was just a Level 6 Swordsmaster. Kise crumbled to his knees and cried wholeheartedly in agony.

“Such deception is on the level of the gods!” he cried. “Fuck you SuperSonic! When I get out, I’ll get your asses for this treachery!”

…

“That’s the last of them in this area.” Mysterious Hooligan huffed as he plunged his Katana through the chest of a fiend.

“So, can we go now?” Ben asked with worry. “We’ve been levelling for some time, and I seriously don’t want to stumble upon a mini-boss or something.”

The other party members laughed.

“While you do have a point, you shouldn’t get scared so easily.” Amused Sharpshooter chuckled. “If anything, we have our Travel Runes; we can just teleport out of here.”

“What if we can’t use them?” the Priest countered.

“Simple. We run.”

“I can’t ―” Ben broke off as the ground shook violently as though there was an earthquake.

“What’s happening?!” Awesome Singularity screeched. She then looked to Ben. “I hope you didn’t jinx us!”

“I did no such thing!”

Just then, they felt a wave of Holy Magic hit them; it calmed them, and even healed their injuries and recovered all their stats. But this feeling was no stranger to either of them, well; maybe Ben since Kise had never healed him before. As it stands, the entire area around them was returning to its former glory, the dead fiend bodies were changing into NPC elves and humans, even their injuries were being healed as well.

“This, this is Rai!” Runic Night screeched. His eyes then caught the thick pillar of white light extending high into the air and pointed it out to the others. “Guys! I bet that’s where he is!”

“Let’s go!” Awesome Singularity and Amused Sharpshooter screeched as they ran off towards the Light.

“No! Don’t go to the Light!” Ben screamed in fear as they were blindly running towards something they don’t know. Sure, it may feel like “Raiden’s” Holy Magic, but they don’t know what’s happening for him to be exuding such great amounts of magic anyway.

Runic Night, Mysterious Hooligan, Amused Sharpshooter called forth their griffons and quickly they all mounted, Ben hopping on quickly as he didn’t want to be left behind in the forest. The winged creatures soared towards the pillar of light but by the time they reached, it was already fading.

What they saw though, made them smile. There was a Shrine there, its torii gate gleaming brightly in the evening sun. Landing next to the gate, the party realized that they were unable to enter but didn’t question it. If “Raiden” was in there, then he has come out.

And that he did a couple minutes later.

“What are you guys doing _here?!”_  He asked in shock.

“Rai!”

“Raiden-kun!”

“Raiden-san!”

They all chirped in joy. When he reached up to them, Awesome Singularity smacked him on the head in rage.

“You idiot!” she screeched, grabbing him in his collar. Even though she wore her combat stilettos, she was still shorter than Kise. “How could you leave and not say a word?!”

“But I did ―”

“You said _nothing!_ What’s “just got a couple things to take care of” mean? Huh? Do you know how worried we were?!”

“But ―”

“No buts! When you’re going on such a dangerous quest, take your party with you!”

“I didn’t want ―!”

“It’s not what you want, you fool!” she screamed. “We are a guild! And we’re ready to help you if needs be!”

While this was going on, Amused Sharpshooter said while positioning his fingers like a camera, “Caption this.”

“I’d say “A wife’s rage”.” Mysterious Hooligan suggested.

“No way,” Runic Night rejected. “It’s got to be “When wifey is angry and hubby has to accept all her tantrums”.”

There was a brief silence before the boys broke out in laughter. Even Ben, he had to agree that what Runic Night suggested was very fitting. Looking at Kise, the blond couldn’t utter a single word, he just stood there, sucking up all Awesome Singularity’s screaming and screeching like a sponge.

“Still, on that note, are those two dating?” Amused Sharpshooter asked. “They got really close these days, you know?”

“Man, you’re over-thinking.” Mysterious Hooligan waved off. “She was just there taking care of him when his legs were paralyzed. I’m not gonna deny that they have gotten closer, but I don’t think they’re a couple.”

“Yet.” Runic Night said. “I mean, Rai did say that she was like a dutiful wife.”

“He did?!”

“ _Yes.”_ The Warrior drawled for emphasis. “Plus, he called her “fun-sized” and didn’t you find it odd that she was the one who found out that he was gone and had the papers? What the hell was she doing in his room so damn early in the morning?!”

“EEEEHHHH?!” Amused Sharpshooter and Mysterious Hooligan screeched in shock.

“He called her “fun-sized”?!” Mysterious Hooligan nearly screamed. “No.” he couldn’t believe it.

“That seals it.” Amused Sharpshooter nodded.

Ben, who felt lost and out of place, asked, “Wait, I’m lost here. Care to enlighten me?”

“We think those two are a couple or something.” The trio deadpanned.

“I can see that.” The Priest deadpanned. “But what’s this about “fun-sized”? Isn’t that what they call the mini Snickers and Three Musketeers?”

“Pfft!”

“How naïve!” Runic Night laughed. “Fun-sized means ― _to my knowledge at least_ ―a small and petite girl that a guy can have more fun with in bed.”

Ben paled. He then looked back to “Raiden” and Awesome Singularity and gaped. She really was small and petite in comparison to Kise but he just couldn’t believe that his guild leader, level headed, smart and respectable Raiden actually said something like _that._

“Are you sure he even meant it like that?” Ben asked. “What if he meant something entirely different? Like, _I don’t know,_ that she’s extremely short?”

“It’s Rai. I doubt it.” Amused Sharpshooter shrugged. “I mean, if his mouth is as filthy as a public sewer, I wouldn’t want to know what his mind is like.”

“Good God.” Ben gasped in horror.

And poor Kise, have no idea what was happening because Awesome Singularity was giving him an earful. It made him dread heading back to the guild, because he was sure that he’d get chewed out even further.

…

After making their rounds with Silver, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger made their way to the Archives. Keisei and company made it clear that they didn’t go because they needed to get information to the rescue team quickly. It was understandable, given that “Raiden” probably _knows_ what he’s getting himself into. So, since the search and rescue team had already left, they decided to learn more of this game. _The Lost Chronicles of the Arcanum_ had a plot, a serious plot, similar to one found in anime and manga. The players in game have to stop the spreading corruption from the other world —The Dark World known as _“Le Monde”_ whilst raiding dungeons and conquering fortresses and so forth. But for those with Cleric as their primary class, they have much more on their plate than everybody else.  

Which brought them to the current situation; they were standing before the entire guild, with extremely pale faces about to depart to the guild what they discovered.

“So, what is it that got you looking so pale?” Kakeru asked. “Is it something dire?”

Gold Digger nodded. “Well, not really dire as in tragic but dire as in “oh shit”.”

“Eh?!”

“Nao and I went to read up about Mirai, and in doing so, it lead us to Mitsuhide and his party.” Spring Breeze began. “Well, from what we read, turns out that Raiden is in for hell and will drag us with him.”

“Wha—”

But before anyone could say anything more, there was a loud explosion followed a violent shaking of the earth and burst of powerful wind gusts. Wondering what the cause of this was, everyone ran outside to the guild yard where they saw a pillar of light extending all the way up into the air.

When it reached past the clouds, ripples were seen going across the sky like a pebble dropped in water. For a couple minutes this was happening, before the System Announced:

_« First Boss Kill of the Chaotic Wizard: Leviathan in Bretagne—Raiden »_

_« Saviour of Bretagne from the Fiend Infestation —Raiden »_

The players in the guild yard were shocked at these announcements, however, when it all sunk in; they all jumped and cheered for joy, screeching:

“That’s our badass Guild Leader!”

_…_

 

Pale red eyes looked up at a grey sky, the black clouds cruising across. His eyes then travelled to the wilted forest below him, the barks looked like they were charred black, leaves non-existent. This was the Dark World where the Kyoudaina originates from. It was called _“Le Monde”._

“So, you’ve finally returned, huh, Mitsuhide?” His dark laughter boomed through the air like resounding thunder, leaving everything before him to tremble in fear. As he continued his hysteric laughter, he raked a hand through his silky black hair after which he trailed an index on one of his thick horns coming out of his temple.

The reason for his laughter was quite simple. Something just happened in the World of Light —“ _La Terre”—_ that will only bring utter destruction. He could already see the mortal fools with happy grins on their faces, he could hear their joyous cheers and shouts in celebration but little did they know that all that would be changed to despair and terror.

Oh…how he couldn’t _wait._

“Azorius…” an equally deep voice called out from behind him, taking him out of his thoughts. Like Azorius, he had silky black hair and pale red eyes with thick horns protruding from his temple. His skin was like porcelain, smooth and flawless.

“What is it, Isembard?” Azorius asked.

The newcomer —Isembard—grinned. “Mitsuhide has returned. And he’s already starting to purify _La Terre._ ”

“I know.” Azorius replied with a grin. “Isn’t it great? I wouldn’t mind if he managed to purify the entire world in one fell swoop! That’ll just make things proceed faster!”

Isembard smiled. “Well, just to let you know, this Mitsuhide isn’t like the one Dantalion-sama fought millennia ago. He isn’t so “saintly” as you’d put it. He’s overrun by rage, hatred and bloodlust —heartlessness. Frankly, given the state of his being, I’m wondering how he’s still able to use Holy Magic.”

Azorius grinned like the sick maniac he was. “ _Trés bien! Ce super!”_ He placed a hand on Isembard’s shoulder while wiping away the tears of joy. “Now you’ve riled me up, Ise. Come, how about we pay a visit to our little King, ne?”

“He might find us repulsive and try to kill us.” Isembard deadpanned. “And, he just purified the _Priestess._ If he uses that bitch on us…”

“Maa, maa,” Azorius waved him off. “That won’t happen because guess what…”

“Enlighten me, you twisted fucker.”

“The first seed of destruction has been planted. Within a couple hours, it’ll start to take root.”

Now, it was Isembard’s time to grin like a maniac.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	14. Who really is Mitsuhide?

Chapter 14

…

After the group met up, Kise left and headed to the Castle to collect his reward from the King. However, the moment the group reached at the entrance of the Royal Capital —Auvergne, Kise was showered with praises and cheers, given that the beam of light that rocketed into the sky was an indicator that the country was saved. Within a blink, the Cleric was ushered into an expensive looking carriage, leaving the other five behind. But, they knew that because they weren’t invited to the quest, the game’s programming couldn’t include them in whatever was happening.

So, they just lingered around town, doing some sightseeing.

“I wonder what Raiden-kun will choose.” Awesome Singularity sighed as she rested her elbows on her thighs. She then placed her chin in her palms, looking at the passing NPC aimlessly. The quintet was seated on benches in a quiet park after they had done their sightseeing.

“I don’t know.” Mysterious Hooligan said, looking up at the beautiful blue sky. “It’s probably money. We all know how he is.”

“Heeh? I think Raiden-san will choose something useful.” Ben joined in. “I don’t think he’ll choose money.”

The others laughed at his comment.

“But isn’t money useful?!” Runic Night guffawed. “You’re saying it as though it’s useless!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” The Priest screeched. “But I’ve played other games before and we chose our own reward from the royal treasury.”

“Oh. That’ll make sense.” Awesome Singularity nodded. “I think Raiden-kun will be really pissed if he gets something that he doesn’t see fit.”

“You sure know your guild leader.” Runic Night teased, nudging her in the sides.

“Well, yeah. Don’t you?” She replied, totally oblivious to what the Warrior was insinuating. “I mean, you’ve known him longer than I have.”

“Hmm…” The Warrior playfully hummed while Mysterious Hooligan wore a mischievous grin on his face. Ben whistled loudly, but Awesome Singularity was clueless at their behaviour.

However, Amused Sharpshooter had kept quiet throughout all this. He was fiddling with his fingers and zoning out, something that the Archer only does when he’s pensive about something. But, it never went unnoticed by the others, especially Mysterious Hooligan.

“Oi, Sharpshooter, what’s the matter?” the Swordsmaster asked. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“What?” Amused Sharpshooter said as he was snapped back to reality. “It’s just that I’m wondering about something, that’s all.”

“What’s that? How’s your body doing in the real world?” Mysterious Hooligan randomly guessed.

The Archer shook his head. “The game. Rai said the quest to beat the game is to purify the Arcane places, get back the Arcana and then defeat the Dark Emperor called Dantalion and his army.”

“Yeah, what about it?” Runic Night asked. On the way over, Kise had told them that he triggered the quest, and so he had to explain to them what they were to do. Still, he was planning on informing the guild later on, since they had all opted to beat the game together.

“ _If_ Mitsuhide had killed Dantalion, why’s there another one?” Amused Sharpshooter said with a distressed sigh. “And where did _he_ come from?”

“Well, I can’t answer the first part, but wouldn’t he be coming from the Dark World?”

“It doesn’t add up. The Lore stated that Mitsuhide _killed_ Dantalion, as in, broke him up in pieces and shit. But why is he coming back?”

“We don’t know.” Mysterious Hooligan said. “Probably, Mitsuhide didn’t _kill_ Dantalion per se, but sealed him instead. So that’s why he’s coming back because the seal has weakened over the many millennia.”

“But sealed him where?” Ben asked. “I mean, why seal someone when you can kill them? When they’re sealed either some fool will release them or over the years the seal weakens. So why would he do that?”

“Uhm, while this is important, I want to say something.” Awesome Singularity spoke up. “This is a game. We can’t try to deduce why Mitsuhide sealed Dantalion instead of killing him. We’d have to ask the creator for that.”

“Right…” the other agreed.

“But, I do agree with Chihaya-kun to some extent.” She continued, “Regarding what Ayato-kun replied to earlier, Dantalion couldn’t be coming from the Dark World. I know that the battle took place here, in this world. And as powerful as Mitsuhide may be, there’s no way he could seal someone in the Dark World _without_ going over first. And he _didn’t._ ”

“Hmm, I guess that would explain why the Arcana have become corrupted. Some of Dantalion’s powers are leaking out.” Amused Sharpshooter nodded.

“But why would it affect the Arcane areas first _before_ it spreads elsewhere?” Ben asked. “That doesn’t make any sense. The corruption should be starting from where Dantalion is sealed then spreads its way across the land.”

“Oh fuck.” Runic Night gasped out as he looked at Amused Sharpshooter. “You said Mitsuhide “killed” Dantalion by breaking him up into pieces, right?”

“Yeah, and weren’t you listening?”

Runic Night ignored the latter part of the sentence, “And Ben just said that If Dantalion’s powers were leaking out, the corruption would start from where he is and spread and not from the Arcane areas.”

“So?” Mysterious Hooligan urged on.

“What if Mitsuhide sealed the pieces of Dantalion _inside_ the Arcana? And because it’s been so long, his powers are corrupting them.”

“That…” Amused Sharpshooter started. “…is dangerous! Rai is now going to purify _all_ of them, keep them within his grimoire so that when we head to face Dantalion and his army, the Arcana can back us up! If pieces of Dantalion are within the Arcana, doesn’t that mean…?” the Archer trailed off as realization hit him like a truck. “…oh no.”

“No. No. No.” Ben said, rising to his feet. “Raiden-san is _purifying_ the Arcana. So even if Dantalion is there, the remains of him will automatically get purified as well. I mean, they’re just _pieces_ ; they won’t have the strength to resist Raiden-san’s purification spells. We all saw that massive beam of light when he purified the Priestess. You believe that a piece of Dantalion could survive _that?_ ”

That seemed to calm down the group.

“Right…” Amused Sharpshooter sighed. “That’s right…we were just over-thinking.”

“I scared myself too.” Runic Night nodded.

“Hmm? Care to share?” a voice said from before them. They looked up to see Kise, with the brightest smile on his face they’ve ever seen. “What made you scared, Rune?”

…

“Because of your great service to my country, you shall choose anything you want from the royal treasury.” The King said as he guided Kise towards the vault. And Kise couldn’t be happier. He was pretty worried that the reward for this would have been standardized, but lo and behold, players can choose what they _want._

 _How delightful._ The blond thought with a smile.

Soon, the King reached a large door in the corridor, and stood before it. He turned to face Kise and said, “This is our treasury. You may enter.”

“Thank you.” Kise tried his best to contain his joy and sound meek here. When the King stepped aside, Kise nearly skipped inwards, but he slowly pushed the door open and walked in. As the door closed behind him, the blond let out a joyous scream. His eyes swept across the gigantic room, full of treasures and gold and artefacts. Just then, a cursor appeared before him, incessantly blinking in the left direction.

“What’s this?” the blond asked as he followed it to a pile of gold where he spotted a strange object sticking out. Holding onto it, Kise pulled it out and the name hovered above it before the System announced:

_« You have found the WithDraw_ _―_ _Straight Bow of Fury and the quiver loaded with the Pierce ―_ _Arrows of Light’s Hope. »_

“Ah! I’ve found Ryuusei’s weapon! To think it was _here._ ” Kise chirped in joy. This bow was large and was remarkably constructed and judging by the weight of it, Kise could tell that it was made of some heavy duty wood. Trailing his fingers onto the string, he felt the stiffness and the smoothness of the fibre that it was made out of. The limbs have been decorated with wrapped silken cloth and end in long points resembling ribbons. The handle, likewise, is wrapped in silk but is painted with ornate decorations.

Looking at the quiver, Kise saw that it was made from something quite thick, the outer side of it painted with a strange writing, of course, the blond wouldn’t know how to read it. There were arrows inside of it, instantly, Kise wondered if his arrowsmiths back at the guild could duplicate them or make them better.

“Ah, enough of this.” He muttered as he placed them in his item storage. “I have other things to get.”

He continued to follow the cursor until he spotted two pairs of blades, lying next to a gold pile. With a grin, the blond sauntered over and scooped them up, hugging them close to his chest. The System then announced:

« _You have found the “Nightcrackle” ―_ _Whisper of the Incoming Storm and “The Void” ―Slayer of Delusions. »_

“Oh, these must be Ayumu’s blades.”

And right Kise was. The black blades were thick and had a trio of cutouts close to the tip, with a little bit of green splatters donning the top half of the blade. The length was the standard for a Warrior, but it was made of what Kise had no idea. When he felt the texture of the gleaming white blades, he couldn’t tell whether or not they were made of metal or something else. Unlike his Katana, where he _knew_ they were made of metal, there was something about Ayumu’s blades that he couldn’t pick up. But one thing was for sure, the blades were razor-sharp.

It’s been millennia since Mitsuhide and his party, but these blades were still in pristine condition. The pommel was decorated with various gems; even the grip, was wrapped in the finest leather and the cross-guard was narrow yet slightly curved, creating the ideal weight balance to allow for smooth and accurate swings with this blade. It had an elaborate design of a dragon breathing fire on each side; Kise knew that this was custom made, only for Ayumu.

“Wow, such an elegant weapon.” Kise breathed out as he examined one of the blades. But now that he’s gotten Ayumu and Ryuusei’s weapons, the cursor disappeared and left him alone to choose whatever else that he wanted. And knowing Kise, the blond stored loads of gold within his storage, followed by useful artefacts and monster drops. There was only one reason he was choosing these things that didn’t relate to his class ―his guild. He thought about how some of these things would benefit the players and he went on a spree. He took knives, rings, shields, swords, money…everything he could get his hands on.

After a couple minutes he was done, and left the room only to see the King still standing there waiting. And before the blond could say anything, the NPC said,

“I see you’ve chosen Ayumu-sama and Ryuusei-sama’s weapons.” He started. “Tell me, are you going to be repeating what you did all those millennia ago, Mitsuhide-sama?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. This world is in danger once again, and as such, I’m going to protect it.”

“Please be safe on your journey.” The King said as he beckoned to one of his servants. The servant walked over with a something wrapped in a parcel and handed it to Kise. Upon receiving the package, something hovered above it:

_King’s Robe._

_Attack: 0_

_Defense: +500_

_Ability: Provides User with “Stealth”. Able to remain undetected by enemies and players without High Tracking ability._

“Woah! Stealth!” Kise screeched in shock. “You bastard, why didn’t you give me this before I headed off to the boss?!” The blond was pretty upset, given that if he had had this, then those Fire Fiends wouldn’t have attacked him and he wouldn’t have gotten so beaten up by Leviathan. “You asshole.”

“You’re welcome Mitsuhide-sama. It was a pleasure to serve you.”

Kise twitched. “Damn you,” he knew that no matter what he said, the NPC would follow its programming and reply _anyway_ , so with a spin on his heel, the blond left, opening up a map to locate where in the city his guildmates were.

Using “Aura of the Swift”, the blond had reached the park at which they were within a couple minutes, and just in time to hear the last bit of their conversation.

“I scared myself too.” He heard Runic Night say.

Curious, Kise trotted over and asked, “Hmm? Care to share? What made you scared, Rune?”

…

Using Travel Runes, the party made it back to Joumei within a couple seconds, and as soon as Kise was spotted, he was assaulted by the players.

“You fool!” Shameless Illusion screeched, grabbing a fistful of his blond hair. “How could you leave to do something so dangerous and not tell us!?”

“I don’t need this! Chizu-cchi already gave me an earful! Spare me!” Kise said, trying to worm his way out of her grip.

“Oh no, you need more.” Keisei said, walking up to him with folded arms. “Young man, do you have any idea of how worried we all were?”

“No Sir.”

“So what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did!” Kise argued. “I went for Mirai’s Katana! If someone else had come with me, they would have done the work and not get anything! How unfair is that!?”

“Have you lost your mind?! It isn’t unfair! Your Katana broke because you were protecting your guild member! So if you had explained the quest, we would have assisted you _regardless_ of whether or not we’d get a reward! Communication, Raiden-kun! Communication!” Keisei said. “You had all of us wondering where the hell you were going! Bretagne?! It’s so damn far away! Plus, you gave us work to do so that we couldn’t follow you! Raiden, how could you?!”

“I’m sorry.” Kise murmured, knowing full well that Keisei was right.

“Sorry isn’t good enough. Go to your room and think about what you’ve done.”

“Yes Sir.”

Kise dragged his sorry hide up to his room, all the way on the sixth floor, the others of the guild realizing that although “Raiden” is their guild leader, he’s still prone to rash actions as well.

“Uh, Dad,” Reiji started, he was a Mage and looked similar to Keisei with the in-game name “Forgiveness of the Fierce”.

“Yes, Rei?”

“You just scolded your guild leader like you were talking to me.”

Keisei sighed and smiled at his son. “Well, he’s the same age as you are. So I couldn’t help it.”

Reiji gasped in shock. “Raiden is sixteen?!”

“Yes, yes he is.” Keisei replied.

“No…” Reiji breathed. “He was _that_ young?”

Keisei snorted, “But he doesn’t look older than sixteen anyway.” He then ruffled his son’s hair, “Now run along. Didn’t you say that you and Fumi were going to a dungeon to level?”

“Ah, right.”

…

Kise lay flat on his face in his bed, unmoving. He scrolled through his achievements to see _exactly_ what he had received. They kept popping up throughout the quest, but he didn’t have the time to actually read them. All he wanted were the Katana. 

 _Mr. Massacre_ ―for decapitating twenty enemies.

 _Armaments 2:9-21 ―_ Kill a monster with a Holy Weapon.

 _That still only counts as one_ ―Solo a large monster.

 _Protector of Bretagne_ ―Save the country from the fiends

 _Too Hot_ ―defeat the Chaotic Wizard: Leviathan

“Wow five achievements in one quest,” Kise whistled out in surprise. “That’s a first.” He then closed the menu and relaxed. He was tired, exhausted but more importantly, he felt pretty awful. Awesome Singularity, Runic Night, Amused Sharpshooter gave him a nasty scolding, and then Shameless Illusion _and_ Keisei did the same not too long ago. He realized that what he did was dumb and probably rash, but it was for a good reason.

But then, he remembered about what happened earlier. He saw Mitsuhide. The famous Cleric that saved this world many millennia ago was, essentially, _him._ But why? Why did Mitsuhide “reincarnate” or whatever but Mirai, Ayumu nor Ryuusei did? Clerics don’t have that special skill, and the other known class to Kise that Mitsuhide had was Sorcerer. That was how he was able to create the Arcana.

“Maybe if I ask Meicchi what her skills are, then…” he trailed off. But he felt pretty uneasy for some reason. He turned onto his back to gaze up at his ceiling. In the game, he’s Mitsuhide, well, his reincarnate apparently. And, Kise _knows_ the Lore of the game through and through but he still feels that there are some things missing.

“It’s not complete.” He said to himself. “There must be something else that the Lore didn’t state.”  

Just then, he felt a pang of pain within right arm and chest, immediately, he used _Cleansing Touch_ to get rid of the discomfort. “Where’d that come from?”

“Raiden-san?”

“Hmm?” Kise turned his head in the direction of the door, looking at who just called. It was none other than Awesome Singularity and she wore a worried look on her face. As she came closer, he sat up, wondering about the expression she wore. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just that you really got us worried today, you know?” she said in a soft voice as she sat beside him. “And when we found out that Bretagne was infested with fiends, we nearly got heart-attacks.”

Kise chuckled lightly. “I see.”

“It’s not funny!” she screeched as she smacked him on the head with a clipboard.

“I know. I wasn’t laughing because of that. It’s how you said it.” He whined at her.

“But, next time, just don’t pull a stunt like that. If you need anything, just gather the strongest players and head out. Or as the guild leader you can issue us a mission or something. Or ―” Awesome Singularity broke off as she caught the look on Kise’s face.

“I can give you guys’ missions? Seriously?!”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

“I had no idea.” Kise replied. “I’ve always been a solo player, so I don’t know how guilds operate let alone what a guild leader does.”

“Wow, for someone so smart, I never knew you could have been so ignorant of something so simple.”

“Ouch.”

A silence befell the two for a couple seconds before Awesome Singularity started up again,

“If you were going to a karaoke, what songs would you sing?”

“Huh?” Kise’s eyebrows rose at this sudden off-topic question. “Where’d that come from?”

“Answer the question, Raiden-kun.” She asked in a monotone. “What songs would you sing at a karaoke?”

“Come on; tell me what you need it for.” He leaned over a bit too close to her.

“We’ve learnt that you like karaoke so we wanted to keep one. That’s all.” She mumbled as she turned her face away.

“Oh. Well, I’ll sing…” Kise paused a while. “…let me write them down instead.”

Swiftly, the blond scooted over to his desk and scribbled the names of the songs and their artistes before handed it to the Swordswoman.

“There.” He beamed at her. “But I need to know, where will the music come from?”

Awesome Singularity smiled. “No need to worry about that Raiden-kun!” She then placed the paper onto her clipboard and rose to exit.

“I see ― _ah!”_ The blond hissed as he doubled over in pain once again. Awesome Singularity rushed over to where he was in hopes of doing _something_ although she knew that there was nothing she could have done _._

“What’s wrong?!”

“I don’t know. There’s been a pain in my right arm and chest ever since I came back.” Kise hissed out. “And even though I used _Cleansing Touch,_ there hasn’t been much of a difference.”

“Do you know what’s causing it?”

“No.”

“Did you get injured there or something?”

Kise snorted. “I got my entire ass busted by Leviathan.”

“Shit.” She said as she aided him to his feet as the pain had left the blond winded. “Is it an after-effect or something?”

“I doubt it.” Kise mumbled as he sat on his bed. “I would’ve gotten a fever if that were the case. Leviathan was a Fire demon, you know.”

“Right…” Awesome Singularity nodded. It was a known fact that Fire monsters would cause fever after-effects, water enemies would give players flu and colds etc.

“But I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?! I don’t ―”

“I’m a Cleric with badass skills. I can heal myself.”

“Fine.” She huffed. “But just so you know, I’ll be putting Ben-kun, Akinori-kun and Chie-chan on the alert.”

“Sure thing.” Kise replied with a blinding smile. With that, she left the room, but not without glancing back with a worried look on her face.

Kise lay on his back once again, and closed his eyes, to even out his breathing. Rihito and Kris had told him that he’d still bleed but shouldn’t feel any pain anymore, so the blond figured that this may end up being a part of the game. But what for?

_Mitsuhide…come to me…_

Kise’s eyes snapped open as he sprang upwards in bed, looking around his room frantically. He heard a voice. There was _another_ voice in his head that _wasn’t_ Mitsuhide’s. Moreover, that voice called _him_ Mitsuhide.

_Mitsuhide…_

The voice gave Kise chills. It was low, deep and somewhat breathy, and felt like there was someone breathing over his shoulder. Spinning to see _if_ there really was something behind him, Kise leaped off his bed and nearly stumbled into his table.

There was nothing there.

_Why are you afraid, Mitsuhide…?_

There it goes again. Before this voice drives him into insanity, Kise suited up in a simple pants, shirt and boots, given that fighting amongst players is only allowed within guild yards so he doesn’t need to dress in his combat outfit. Outside of that, then the players in question will face the NPC guardians descending from above. That is, if one of the party isn’t that terrorist Elf.

When the blond reached downstairs, he grabbed Amused Sharpshooter and Runic Night and left while typing a message to the entire guild. He didn’t want to leave without saying where he was going, given the harsh scolding he received not too long ago.

“Oi, Rai…” Runic Night began. “…where are you dragging us?”

“To the Archives.” The blond breathed out rather breathlessly.

“Why? And why do you sound like you’re dying?”

“I…” he started but trailed off. “…I need to find out something about Mitsuhide.”

“You don’t say?” The Archer said. “You know, Naoki and Seiya found out some stuff and planned to tell the guild later on after dinner. You could wait until then.”

Kise stopped. “Fine. You stay. I’m going anyway.”

“Rai! What’s the matter?!” Runic Night asked as he grabbed him in the shirt. “You’re acting weird. _Again.”_

“I’m hearing voices, Rune. And it’s creepy.”

Amused Sharpshooter and Runic Night exchanged glances before the Warrior said, “How long? How long has this been going on?”

“Not long. It started when Chizuka came and asked something for karaoke.”

“Why is it happening? Do you know?” Amused Sharpshooter questioned. “I mean, could this be some sort of reaction being that you’ve triggered the quest?”

“I don’t know, possibly, but I’m still going to look some things up.”

“Okay, hear what.” Runic Night started up again. “I’ll stay and listen to what Gold and Haru has to say and relay it to you guys.”

“Thanks.”

And with that, Kise and Amused Sharpshooter headed to the Archives, while Runic Night returned to the guild. Of course, he wasn’t going to keep his mouth shut about Kise hearing voices, and yet again, it got those present worried. Even though it’s a game, it has become their reality. Hearing voices isn’t always a good thing in the real world, so it sure couldn’t be the same here.

…

Meanwhile Kise and Amused Sharpshooter made their way to the Archives; the Archer had a terrible feeling. “Raiden” was hearing voices. And given what he and the others discussed about when they were in Auvergne, he was wondering if there was actually some fact to their conjectures. His dark eyes swept across to Kise, who seemed a bit uneasy.

“Rai…” he started. “…how severe is this? And why do you seem so bent on knowing more about Mitsuhide? You could’ve stayed back at the guild to listen to what Naoki and Seiya were gonna say.”

Kise paused and bit his lip. “When I was on that quest, I met Mitsuhide.” The Archer beside him gasped in surprise. “Or rather, his apparition or something.”

“And…and, what did he look like?!”

“Me.”

Amused Sharpshooter stopped dead in his tracks. That one word left him frozen, left him incapacitated for a moment. “Come again?” he could only utter out.

Kise sighed. “Mitsuhide is me, or rather, I’m Mitsuhide.”

“You, you…”

“Yes I’m serious. I was shocked as well.”

“So…what does that mean? You’re Mitsuhide’s reincarnate or someshit?”

“Apparently. That’s why I’m going to the Archives to find out. I don’t know what’s happening and I absolutely detest being ignorant of important things.”

“I see.” The Archer nodded.

But little did the two know that there were eavesdroppers around.

…

A bolt of black lightning struck an area within the forest, and in its wake emerged two figures. At first, they were both clothed in black garb ―a long black coat over a black mithril shirt with black pants tucked into shin-high boots with twine lacing at the front. There were belt like accessories which dangled from around their waist, which held in place their sheathed swords.

“Azorius, are you sure that we should be visiting him so soon?” Isembard asked.

“Of course. There’s no way he’d be able to master the Priestess’ powers so quickly. Plus, the sooner, the better.” Azorius grinned. “Once we find him, I’ll corrupt him with everything I have. That way, there’ll be no turning back.”

“You’re one twisted asshole, you know that?” Isembard chuckled. “How will you even get a chance to do that? Target the seed so that the Priestess won’t be able to react?”

Azorius waved his index at his partner. “Nope. We’ll teach him the so-called “Dark Magic”. One thing I had always liked about Mitsuhide, he viewed magic as just magic. There was no Light and Dark, _just_ magic. And as such, Priestess won’t react because her creator viewed magic as…” He trailed off purposely.

“…just magic.” Isembard finished. “Man, you sure planned out everything haven’t you?”

“Naturally.”

The two then made their way out of the forest, but not before donning a disguise of two human males. Confidently, they strolled into Joumei city; even the city’s barrier never stood a chance against the two Kyoudaina. Without suspicion, they navigated their way towards Kise’s guild; however, before they entered the yard, they lingered a little bit outside first.

Isembard whistled. “This place is pretty big.” He said as he looked at the guild yard. “Mitsuhide must be pretty rich. Look at _that_ building! Six floors?!”

“Yeah,” Azorius said in agreement. But, although they were standing there, the players eyed them suspiciously, given that Azorius and Isembard were NPC, and these none playable characters _don’t_ show up at guilds. Usually, players have to initiate contact or a conversation in order to get something out of the NPC, so seeing them standing outside of the guild yard had eyebrows rising.

“Hello!” one player skipped up and said with a smile, hoping to get a high reward quest. The two Kyoudaina looked rich and top-notch anyway. “What brings you NPC here?”

Azorius looked in the Archer’s direction. “We’re looking for someone.”

“Eh? Who might that be?”

Azorius dug inside his pocket and pulled out a photo. It had a tall young man with blond hair and brown eyes with long corner lashes. He was clothed in the standard white Clerical clothing.

The player looked at the photo keenly before shaking his head. “Nope. Don’t know who that is. Don’t you have a name or something?”

“Raiden.” Isembard replied.

The player nodded. “I’ve heard that name announced so many times on the server…” he mumbled angrily. “But no, no one really knows where he is. He’s a solo player ―” he broke off realizing that he was telling two NPC that a player did solo. They won’t react to it as they should because of their programming.

“I see.” Azorius said before spinning on his heels and walking away with Isembard following closely behind. The two walked along for a while, until they heard chatter coming from behind them.

“So…what does that mean? You’re Mitsuhide’s reincarnate or someshit?”

“Apparently. That’s why I’m going to the Archives to find out. I don’t know what’s happening and I absolutely detest being ignorant of important things.”

“I see.”

Azorius and Isembard stopped from the moment they heard Amused Sharpshooter. A nasty grin appeared on their faces as not only did they learn of the location of which “Raiden” was going, but they finally found him. With one glance into the blond’s direction, Azorius and Isembard disappeared to the Archives, awaiting “Raiden’s” arrival.

…

“This is the Archives?” Amused Sharpshooter asked as they stepped through the double doors. “It just looks like a dusty old library.”

“Ha! It’s huge, I can tell you that.” Kise replied as he led them down a stairwell. This time, Kise asked the NPC receptionist where they could find information on Mitsuhide and she gave them the directions. “The last time, I went to the shelves and trust me, they seemed endless.”

“Hmm…” Amused Sharpshooter hummed as he looked around him. “…I get the feeling that we’re being watched or something. Rai, this place is creepy, use “Aura of the Swift” and get where you’re going quickly.”

Kise grinned. “I see someone’s scared.”

“So what?!” the Archer quipped. “There’s a bad feeling in the pits of my stomach and my brother always says, “believe the feeling in your stomach, it could save your life” or something to that effect.”

“Ah.” Kise nodded. “Then, you go back and wait. I won’t be long.”

“No. In case anything happens, I’ve got your back.”

“Good.” Kise chuckled. “Plus, what could really happen _here?”_

Finally exiting the stairwell, the two entered a grand room with books and scrolls scattered all across the floor, on shelves and on the tables. Amused Sharpshooter covered his lower face as there was dust all over.

“Hasn’t this place been cleaned?” he cursed. “It’s filthy!”

“Apparently not.” Kise reasoned. “Anyway…” his eyes scanned the area, in hopes of spotting something dealing with Mitsuhide. He walked over to the scrolls scattered on top of the tables, and quickly browsed through a couple before getting impatient and looked to the shelves. In that instant, a lone dusty black and white book fell off the shelf, landing on the floor.

Curious, Kise bent and took up the book, but when he read the title, a smile graced his face. It was exactly what he was looking for. Quickly, he turned in the direction of Amused Sharpshooter to tell him of his discovery. But, what Kise failed to realize was that there was a black fog, manifesting in the corner near to him.

Amused Sharpshooter, on the other side of the room skimmed through the various scrolls and books, not really knowing what to look for. He was dragged here by “Raiden” because _he_ wanted to know more about Mitsuhide, given that not only is he hearing voices, but he’s Mitsuhide’s reincarnate.

“Who the hell would have thought?” the Archer sighed. “Damn, this game is totally awesome. Such a twisted plot and shit.” He chuckled. “I wonder what we’ll discover about Mitsuhide?”

However, something dawned on him. The room has gotten quiet. Prior, he could hear Kise’s shuffling and footfalls along with the opening and violent shutting of books. But, all of a sudden, it’s gotten quiet.

“Rai, have you ―” the Archer broke off as he stared at the empty space in fright. “Oh no.” Quickly, he opened up a map of Kise’s location and what the raven-haired teen saw, left him puzzled. Kise was still in the Archives, as a matter of fact, it stated that the blond was right in front of him. “What the fuck!?” he shouted as he drew his bow and released an arrow at the wall before him.

Nothing happened.

“Fuck!” he cursed. Then, he immediately phoned Runic Night to alert the guild of the situation. “Hurry and get your asses here guys.” He mumbled to himself when the call ended.

…

Kise’s eyes fluttered open to a dimly lit room with a sconce on the left wall. It held the flaming torch firmly in place, which was the only light source within the room. Trying to get up, Kise realized that his limbs were bounded by an invisible force that he couldn’t break. What is more, all his skills were sealed for some reason, meaning that, he won’t be leaving here if someone doesn’t come rescue him.

“Ah, you’re finally awake, Mitsuhide.” A deep voice said from the right. Kise’s head whipped in the direction only to see a composed looking person sitting in a chair cross-legged. He was dressed in clothing reminiscent to a Swordsman, but he was all decked out in black. His hair was curly and black, his red eyes seeming to glow with excitement. But one thing Kise noticed that stood out ―the horns protruding from his temples.

In this game, only humanoid Kyoudaina had horns. _Only them._

 _What’s a demon doing over here? In a city no less?_ Kise thought, but then he inwardly chuckled, realizing that he’s in a more dangerous situation yet he’s wondering how the Kyoudaina got into Joumei.

“Who are you?” Kise’s mouth asked. At this moment, the blond figured that this was a part of the game, as his mouth would only start saying things to go with the programming.

The Kyoudaina looked hurt. Or rather, _pretended_ to look hurt. “Aww, you don’t remember me?” He said as he slowly got up out of the chair and walked over to the slab that Kise was restrained to.

“No I don’t.” His mouth spat with venom. “As a matter of fact, I never knew you in the first place. Why would I even associate with a Kyoudaina, anyway?”

The Kyoudaina chuckled. “I am Azorius.” He said as he leaned down into Kise’s face. “But don’t worry; I have the perfect remedy to jog your memory.”

“Eh?!” This time, it was Kise who willingly screeched. Azorius’ right hand had a strange black mist around it, moving as though it had a mind of its own. Then, with a swift movement, he covered Kise’s lower face with the hand, Kise’s muffled screams of terror was the only sound in the room.

The black mist slowly left off Azorius’ hand and entered the blond’s nostrils, after which Kise’s eyes turned completely black and his struggling ceased. The Rune-like marking that had appeared when he purified the Priestess glowed on his right arm, eliciting a grin from Azorius.

“Now, I’ll leave you to remember…” Azorius grinned, “…our little King.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	15. A Look Into The Past

 

_…_

_[When Kise and Amused Sharpshooter left the Guild]_

Runic Night returned inside the building where Spring Breeze and Gold Digger were about to disclose the information that they’ve found out. The guild was assembled in the biggest room —the social area, some were seated on the chairs and benches, while others were comfortably perched on the table tops.

The Archer and Thief were at the front, standing on top of a table so that everyone had a clear of them.

“I’ll start with the Lore which we have all neglected to read.” Gold Digger said as he opened his storage and took out a book.

_Before time immemorial, there existed two titans of immeasurable power. One was Arun, a male, and the God of all Creations while the other, Aziza, was a female and the Goddess of Life and Death. And their boredom, Arun created “The World” —the beautiful lands, the pristine seas but most importantly, the wonderful life-forms in which Aziza breathed life into. These life-forms —Faes, Humans, Elves, Kyoudaina and the sub-intelligent species like Dragons and Pegasus lived together in these lands.  Arun and Aziza loved their creations wholeheartedly._

_However,_ _as the centuries go by, Arun fell in love with one of his creations —a beautiful Fae girl with the name “Celeste”. So, he brought her to the “Great Divide” and gave her the power of “Schatten” while he maintains his “Licht”._

_And there, the two lived in bliss until tragedy._

“Tragedy? What tragedy?” Tomohito asked, unable to wait.

“Calm down, I was getting to that.” Gold Digger sighed.

_With his power of Divination, Arun foresaw the tragedy that would befall them. Given that Celeste was originally a mortal, her desires were still present. Starting from her desires, “Schatten” took her over until she was no longer herself, greedy for more power. Unable to kill her due to his love, Aziza decided to step in._

_With Arun incapacitated, Aziza extracted the “Schatten” from Celeste, “Licht” from her brother and sealed them into a newborn Kyoudaina with the name —Aksel von Weisen. Celeste flew into a rage, as due to the Schatten within her for so long, she had become a “Demi-god”. What was more, she couldn’t kill Aziza because as the Goddess of Life and Death, she’ll just be reborn._

_Due to this, Celeste interfered with the realm of the mortals and drove them into wars. Kyoudaina, Fae were pushed to the brink of extinction by the Humans and Elves and so their best mages including Amaris and his best friend —Dantalion, created a world beyond the seas for their people. This way, they could in live peace, away from the Humans and Elves that threatened to make their race extinct. Although, there were some Elves who sided with these Kyoudaina and Fae, and as such, were given the title “Dark Elves”._

_Aziza bestowed upon them her blessing, the most she could do because of the barrier Arun had put in place._

_Their world was eventually called “Le Monde” and Amaris was made Emperor due to his enormous contribution and smart thinking. Dantalion Bryne, his best friend, was second in command._

“And that’s all for the Lore folks. Well the parts that were shown us at the start of the game.” Gold Digger said as he shut the book. “But we’re not done yet.” He turned to Spring Breeze who was beside him. “Your turn Sei.”

“Right.” Spring Breeze nodded. He too, like Gold Digger, opened his item storage but the book he took out was rather tattered and looked _old._ “Let’s begin. And this is a continuation of the Lore, parts that were hidden from us in the beginning.”

_The peace in Le Monde lasted only eleven years._

_Inhabitants of “La Terre”, the followers of Celeste, was told by their goddess that Aksel —Amaris’ eleven year old son— possessed Arun’s “Licht” and “Schatten” which his father stole from her husband. So one unsuspecting day, La Terre launched an attack to retrieve Arun’s Licht and Schatten to give it to Celeste. Of course, this incited Le Monde’s rage, and a battle took place on the very shores of the Kyoudaina’s world._

_Amaris, Dantalion and their armies fought ferociously against the forces of La Terre, but Celeste had other plans. Giving a coven of Mages unbelievable power, they were able to fight back Le Monde’s forces. Seeing that Le Monde may really get wiped out, Dantalion decided to use a special magic to get rid of La Terre’s forces._

_Amaris, realized what he was doing, tried to stop him only to fail in the process. And as such, Dantalion’s magic spell was released, but sadly, he was only going to live for a couple more minutes._

_“Why did you do this, Dan-chan?!” Amaris screeched with tears streaming down his eyes._

_“I want our people to live in peace, Acchan.” Dantalion could hardly utter. “So just avenge my sorry ass, okay?”_

_But Amaris said nothing. In the midst of the blood and carnage, the Emperor decided to heal Dantalion, at the cost of his own life._

_“Dan-chan, I want you to take over until Aksel gets bigger okay?”_

_“What? Acchan, I can’t…I’ve used all my magic. Even with your healing, I’m a lost cause.”_

_Amaris chuckled. “That’s why I’ll give you mine.”_

_“But —!”_

_“Look, at least I’ve seen Aksel reach eleven and he knows I’m his father. Sure, I’d love to see my grandchildren and future daughter-in-law, but Dan-chan, I can’t have you die and you’ve yet to see yours.”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“Oh you idiot, Ivana’s pregnant.” Amaris said with a wide grin. “So, you’ve got to take over okay? And take care of Aksel and Olivia for me, ne?”_

_And as such, with Amaris’ spell, the Emperor transferred his life force and magic to his best friend. But, it was thanks to Dantalion’s grand magic that La Terre had retreated, without accomplishing their goal of taking young Aksel._

 “So, Amaris was the real Emperor of Le Monde before Dantalion.” Runic Night hummed. “So what happened to the son, Aksel?”

“We were getting to that!” Gold Digger snapped. “You know what? No one utter a single word until Sei’s done!”

“But the Lore is so long. Now you see why we didn’t read it in the first place?” King Aiza shrugged.

“Agreed.” The rest of the guild said.

_However, Aziza, would not allow Amaris to die so prematurely. Telling Olivia ―Amaris’ wife―what she must do to ensure her husband’s survival, the Fae woman and a couple more loyal servants ―Isembard, Ragna, and Johan along with Amaris’ brother ―Azorius, took the Emperor’s body to Mount Lanzenotter where Goddess Aziza would revive him. However, due to the strong barrier that Arun had placed between the two realms, healing Amaris took quite some time._

_During this time, Dantalion took over as temporary Emperor but he was only in charge of the armies while Olivia, the Empress managed everything else. Dantalion’s own son, Diederich, felt like a little brother to Aksel and the two would often spend time with each other._

_But, three years later, Aziza was finally done with Amaris, Olivia, Dantalion and the others headed to Lanzenotter to retrieve him, of course, the Emperor was glad to have been kept alive._

_But, Amaris wouldn’t have time to enjoy a second chance as La Terre decided to strike again. They had successfully infiltrated Le Monde and using Diederich as leverage; they snatched Aksel and dragged him over to La Terre._

_Once again, Le Monde was pissed._

_And as such, when they were prepared, they set out for La Terre, with hopes of bringing back Aksel, whether dead or alive. Amaris mobilized his army towards the shore of La Terre, Dantalion and Azorius second and third in command._

_The army wreaked havoc everywhere they went, and while they did so, they searched earnestly for their little Emperor. Still, they had no such luck. A year or two passed by with them searching, causing a war between La Terre and Le Monde to break out. However, in the third year of the war, La Terre’s elite force emerged, a party of four led by a Cleric named “Mitsuhide”._

At this point, Spring Breeze showed the entire guild a picture of what Mitsuhide looked like —beautiful blond hair with long forehead bangs that partially hid his bright brown eyes with long, thick lashes.

Everyone present gaped in shock as they felt as though they weren’t looking at Mitsuhide, but their guild leader, “Raiden”.

“Yeah.” Spring Breeze nodded when he saw their expressions. “We felt the same.”

“But it gets even worse.” Gold Digger said. “Be prepared.”

_Amaris took his best men ―Azorius, Dantalion, Isembard and headed to slay Mitsuhide’s party. However, his party was separated by Ayumu, Ryuusei and Mirai. Amaris, pressed on, until he encountered Mitsuhide. But to his horror, —_

“And the page was severed here.” Spring Breeze sighed. “So we won’t know what spooked Amaris.”

“I knew it.” King Aiza grumbled. “It’s too early in the game for us to get the jaw-dropping revelation.”

“Typical.” Silver said with a sigh.

“But it, continues some more, although parts are missing.”

_After a gruesome battle, Dantalion finally had an opening to get to Amaris’ aid. When he headed over to where his Emperor was, he was shocked at who the man was fighting._

_Nonetheless, Amaris gave him a rundown of what was happening. “That wretched seal. There’s a seal we need to break! Can you do it, Dan-chan?!”_

_“Apparently, you don’t know who your best friend is.”_

_The two then were engaged in a heated battle between Mitsuhide and his fearsome Arcana Magic ―_

_— Dantalion finally got a chance to undo the seal ―_

“And where missing an entire page, here.” Spring Breeze sighed. “But I’ll continue with what remains.”

_—sealed Amaris within his Arcana so that he could live again. Mitsuhide also sealed Dantalion within a magical sphere and hidden him beneath the ground so that no one could free the Kyoudaina without Mitsuhide’s permission._

_But knowing that Celeste was behind all this and the true villain, “Mitsuhide” hatched a plan so that in the millennia to come, Celeste will be defeated —_

_—And as such, the Cleric created a spell, one in which to reincarnate himself and only wake when the world needed him most._

“The End, although we couldn’t really get what happened at the fight.”

“ _Fuck…”_ Runic Night gasped in shock.

“The fact that Mitsuhide sealed Amaris in his Arcana and Dantalion elsewhere proves that he realized neither of the males was the bad guys.” Silver said while rubbing his temples. “Because given the circumstances, La Terre was the one who provoked Le Monde.”

“Exactly. They stole their Emperor’s son.” Yahiko joined in. “Obviously, anyone would retaliate.”

“But why in the game it’s telling us to defeat Dantalion if Celeste is the bad bitch?” Mysterious Hooligan asked. “Plus, we were told that Dantalion was broken up into pieces and sealed in the Arcana. If Amaris is the one sealed within, how…?”

“I don’t know.” Spring Breeze shook his head. “But what still puzzled me and Nao was that “Mitsuhide” had no records whatsoever.” He said. “Everyone had a surname —Funai Ayumu, Sato Ryuusei, Akiyama Mirai…but Mitsuhide was only and always known as such. No birthplace, no parents, nothing. It’s like he suddenly popped out of nowhere.”

“And the fact that it stated that “Dantalion undid a seal” during their fight and we don’t know which seal it is, let alone what it can do.” Gold Digger added.

The guild was swallowed by silence.

One mystery after the next keeps popping up and they hadn’t the slightest idea of what to do. Plus, their guild leader is currently out and chances are, he doesn’t know about this story as well.

“But where’s Raiden-kun now?” Awesome Singularity asked. “He needs to hear this since he’s basically Mitsuhide according to the picture.”

“He’s gone to the Archives with Sharpshooter.” Runic Night answered. When he saw the looks of confusion on some of the members’ faces, he corrected himself and said, “Chihaya. He’s gone with Chihaya.”

“Look on the bright side, at least this isn’t a case where we’ll find out “Dantalion is Mitsuhide’s father” or something. That seems to happen a lot these days.” Setsurou said with a sigh. “It’s become a pretty standard trope.”

“I know right! When we’re supposed to die of shock, it becomes “oh, it’s this again”. Ben sighed. “So boring.”

“Can we get back to the issue?” Spring Breeze asked. “This Aksel person could be some key in getting rid of Celeste. I mean, the fact is, Celeste hasn’t gotten Arun’s Licht and Schatten because the world would’ve ended by now.”

“So where’s Aksel?” Silver questioned. “He’s a Kyoudaina who had been taken over here. I’m sure he isn’t able to mix in with the masses.”

“That could be true.” Yahiko started. “Unless, Amaris and his mother were Faes or Elves where he won’t have the horns.”

“Still —” Runic Night was about to say something when he heard an incoming phone call. He looked and saw that it was Amused Sharpshooter and quickly answered. Given that he was with “Raiden”, something must’ve happened for him to be calling instead of the blond guild leader.

“What’s the issue?”

_“Rai’s in danger! Get anyone you can and come to the Archives!”_

Runic Night didn’t even wait to hear the details.  Without the call ending first, the Warrior screamed to the entire guild present, “Get your asses ready! Rai’s in danger!”

_xxxx_

Out in the real world, Kise’s friends and family were worried about the blond ace. While they couldn’t see what the guild was discussing because Kise wasn’t there, seeing him lying on a concrete slab with this ominous-looking black mist surrounding him. They all knew it was a game, but this was Kise’s new reality. He’s taking it rather seriously, so too they.

“I hope he’ll be alright.” Ritsuko said as she pricked her thumb’s nail with her teeth.

“I’ll call SuperSonic and ask them what the hell is going on.” Ruiko said as she whipped her phone out. She then went to the door for quiet, while still being able to see the monitors.

Everyone was watching keenly, hoping that soon, the blond would be up and running like before.

_When Kise opened his eyes, the scenery around him was one he’s never seen before in the game. Not in the ads leading up to the release, not on the box, nor in the Lore._

_“Where the hell am I?” he mumbled to himself._

_“There you are! I have been searching all over for you!” came a feminine screech from behind him._

_“Who —?” Kise turned around to see a beautiful Fae woman; long white hair cascading down her back like ribbons of silk, her bright red eyes reflected the glow of the evening sun. “She’s pretty.” He mumbled to himself._

_“I’m sorry Mom, I got lost.” Kise found himself saying. But that didn’t shock him —it was the high pitched voice that came out of his mouth. Horrified, Kise looked down at himself, and found that he was smaller, almost like a child._

_“Next time, stay where we can see you. Do you have any idea how worried we all were?”_

_“Nope. I haven’t the slightest idea.” Kise said yet again._

_The Fae sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears. “You little smartass, what am I going to do with you?”_

_Kise didn’t say anything, instead, he felt himself grinning. His small hands then reached for the woman’s and the two walked through a forest. The trees all looked charred, as though burnt. There were no leaves on their thin trunks but even though the forest looked creepy, the feeling and atmosphere wasn’t. There was no fear of any ghosts of man-eating creature springing up out of the ground to grab him, nothing swooping down from their perches to pick at them; it felt safe like a forest in a fairy-tale fantasy._

_The two continued to walk until they saw a large shadow being cast overhead. Not knowing what it was, Kise looked up and saw a majestic dragon flying above them. The creature then descended close enough to them, creating violent gusts of winds from its massive wings._

_“Amaris! Are you going to blow us away?!”_

_“Sorry, Olivia,” a deep voice chuckled. A tall man dressed in what seemed to be standard Archer clothing dismounted off the dragon. His bright yellow hair was tied in a low ponytail, his brown eyes radiated warmth._

_Amaris then walked over to Kise and ruffled his hair before taking him in his arms. “How’s my little boy doing today?”_

“Well would you look at that.” Ryouhei huffed. “If he’s supposed to be my boy’s in-game father, they need to get the visuals right. He looks nothing like me!”

“That’s because he’s just a long-haired Ryoutacchi, Dear.” Ritsuko chuckled. “No need to get petty now.”

“I’m not getting petty.”

_“I’m fine!” Kise chirped. “Daddy, can you take me for a ride on your dragon?”_

_Amaris grinned from ear to ear. “Sure!”_

_Olivia sighed as she watched the two scurry onto the massive beast. “Be careful now.”_

_“Don’t worry, Mom!”_

_“Tell her Aksel! You’re a big boy that can take care of himself!”_

_“He’s only six!” Olivia screeched._

_With a playful grin, Amaris ordered the dragon to take flight, and with a powerful flap of its wings, they were lifting off into the air._

_Kise was inwardly panicking because not only did he not have control over his body, he was reverted to a child. A six year old child. He didn’t know when this happen as he knew he was lying on the concrete slab in the Archives and then bam!_

_[This is a nightmare]. The blond thought sourly._

_Then as they flew, his eyes caught the landscape below. There was something beautiful about it, despite it not being the standard lush green forest like in La Terre. There were some trees that black yet crispy leaves; there were others that had an autumn colour._

_Soon, they left from the forests and overhead the cities, leaving the blond in awe. These cities were reminiscent of the modern-day Joumei and Bretagne, the only addition here were the presence of high rising buildings._

_He could see the carriages bringing people to their destinations, he could see vendors and buyers making their transactions, he could see that life was bustling, but moreover, peaceful._

_This was not the image that he had gotten in outset about Le Monde and the Kyoudaina inhabitants._

_“You see all this, Aksel.” Amaris started in a solemn tone. “One day, you’ll be governing all this. You’ll be the one in charge of everything, in charge of making the people below extremely happy.”_

_“Me?”_

_“Yes, boy. After all, it is an Emperor’s job.”_

_“I’ll be an Emperor like you one day, Daddy?”_

_“Yup! The best one yet.”_

“Well shit. My boy is a future Emperor.” Ryouhei sniffed. “I’m so proud.”

The teams then looked at Akashi, who was always regarded as such. They figured that hearing and seeing that Kise, the one who was always regarded as the fool, become an Emperor must probably make the redhead want to laugh. Feeling the numerous eyes on him, the redhead asked, “Is there something on my face?”

“Ah…no…we just, uh,” Izuki started, unable to explain.

“Let’s just get back to watching shall we?” Takao interjected, hoping to avoid the awkwardness that was creeping up.

“Right…”

_xxxx_

“Is everyone ready?” Shameless Illusion asked loudly.

“Hai!” the group chorused.

At that, she used her spell _“Call of Ally”,_ to teleport the group to where Amused Sharpshooter was. From the moment Runic Night had gotten the distressed call from the Archer, he quickly alerted Silver and the rest of the guild. Without much dialogue, the players knew that only the strongest and smartest should head out. No one knew what trouble they’ll encounter, so it was wise that the highest levelled players should be the ones to go. And as such, the group consisted of players like Mysterious Hooligan, Shameless Illusion, Runic Night, Keisei and his son Reiji, just to name a few.

Within a split second, the group reached Amused Sharpshooter who was staring at the wall with such intensity that if it was possible, the wall would’ve crumbled beneath his piercing gazes.

“Chihaya! What’s the ―” Mysterious Hooligan started but he didn’t finish the sentence because the Archer immediately started talking.

“The map states that Rai is right before me, which means, he’s beyond that impenetrable wall. Plus, that was where he was last standing before he disappeared.”

“Do you know if it was a trap that he’d triggered?” Runic Night asked.

“I doubt it. My sensors haven’t detected any traps. And I’m pretty sure that Rai would’ve sensed it as well.” Amused Sharpshooter replied. “Like, he just vanished like air.”

“Alright, so Raiden is beyond that wall, right?” Shameless Illusion grinned. “Let’s break it down!”

“No!” Reiji rejected. “If we bulldoze our way in, the enemy on the other side could prepare an ambush for us!”

“But, it’s a _wall_ , Reiji. How else are we gonna get to the other side?!” Amused Sharpshooter roared. “I’ve been hacking away at it ever since he disappeared! That fucking wall needs to be _destroyed!_ And I don’t give a fuck about whether or not an ambush is lying in wait for us. Rai needs us, who knows what they could be doing to him in there!”

“Chihaya-kun, please calm down.” Keisei said while placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know you want to rescue Raiden as soon as possible ―we all do. But please, _think_ about the situation.”

Reiji sighed. “I have a plan anyway.”

“And what’s that?”

“We get Mei-san to use her “Call of Ally” on Daisuke-senpai who has an Assassin subclass. That way, he can use his stealth to avoid any kind of attack or to move around undetected.”

That seemed to calm the raging Archer for a split second only. The others nodded in agreement with the plan, as it seems like a sound one.

“So why can’t we all go?” he then asked. “Why can’t she use her spell on all of us?”

“ _Because,”_ Reiji drawled. “We don’t know what lies beyond that wall.”

“Which is why we all should go. Sending Hooligan alone in where there could be multiple enemies is dumb.”

“His subclass is Assassin. That’s why it isn’t dumb.”

This was going nowhere. However, Keisei understood what both parties were saying but he didn’t interfere. Instead, he walked to the wall where Amused Sharpshooter said Kise was, and inspected it thoroughly. There was no hidden lock, or hidden passageway. It was almost as though he phased through the structure like a ghost. Thinking on the situation, if they should destroy the wall, God knows what they’ll encounter _if_ they’ll encounter anything. But if they should send Mysterious Hooligan via “Call of Ally”, a possibility could be what the Archer said ―he could encounter an ambush or something.

“If only we could send in something ―” he cut himself off as a thought came to him. He turned around and called out, “Kazu!”

“H-hai!?” the teen responded. He was tall and lanky, with black hair and eyes. He was a Summoner with the in-game name “Boon of the Forgotten” but his given name was Kazushige with everyone calling him “Kazu”.

“Your summons. Can’t they head to where Raiden is?”

Kazu hummed. “I think so. Through “Call of Ally”, probably.”

“Then, that’s what we’ll do.” The Swordsman sighed. He then turned to the group. “Mei-san, use your spell on Kazu’s summons to get them to Raiden. That way, we can tell whether or not there are enemies on the other side of the wall.”

After Shameless sent over Kazu’s summons, the group waited until there was a response. When Kazu indicated that all was clear, everyone pooled together their abilities and successfully destroyed the wall, Amused Sharpshooter darting inwards to his guild leader.

“Rai!” he shouted while he held Kise’s lifeless body in his arms. “Rai! Answer me!” this time, the Archer rigorously shook the Cleric, but there was still no response.

“He seems alright.” Akinori said.

“How is he alright if he’s not waking up?!”

Akinori sighed. “I meant, everything about him is fine. His health bar is at its max, there’re no after-effects nor any debuffs on him currently; it’s almost as though he’s asleep.”

“Oh.”

“Well, it’s nice that we got him and all, so can we just get out of here before trouble comes?” Reiji said. “I don’t think ―”

“What do you think you’re doing?” a voice said from the destroyed wall. Soon, Azorius made himself visible to the group and immediately, they were all on high alert. Although there was no prompt stating that Azorius was an enemy, they didn’t want to take any chances.

“Who are you?”

Azorius smiled. “Me? My name is Azorius. What’s yours?”

“Don’t ask me anything! What do want with Raiden?” Amused Sharpshooter found himself saying. The Archer was alarmed at his mouth suddenly spewing things, but now wasn’t the time to panic completely.

“His real name isn’t Raiden.” The Kyoudaina’s face darkened at this moment. “This is the second time that you fucking pests gave him a name like you’re his parents.”

“What are you talking about?!” Mysterious Hooligan found himself asking. “You’re talking as though you know him better than we do!”

Azorius grinned. “Of course I do. And trust me, when you find out who he really is, I doubt you’ll be sticking by his side.” The Kyoudaina then burst out in laughter. “As a matter of fact, when he regains what he has lost, he’ll massacre the whole fucking lot of you! Until then, I’ll let you have your way. But it won’t last long.”

“Wha ―” But the Archer couldn’t complete his sentence. Azorius disappeared from before them, leaving everyone stunned. At first, the players looked about the room in wonder, but when everything registered, they started to screech.

“What just happen?!” Amused Sharpshooter asked. “I found myself talking against my will! I thought I was possessed!”

“Sharpshooter, you can’t be possessed.” Mysterious Hooligan started. “But, it happened to me too.”

“Whatever!” Akinori shouted to get their attention. “Let’s go before that Kyoudaina changes his mind!” Keisei was behind him, with Kise cradled in his arms.

“Right. Everyone! Assemble!” Shameless Illusion said, preparing to use _“_ Call of Ally”.

…

…

Kise’s eyes snapped open and found that he was in his room.

“Was that a dream?” He mumbled to himself.

“Raiden-kun, you’re awake!” he heard a familiar voice say before feeling something crash into him sending him crashing sideways in his bed.

“Chizu-cchi, I would appreciate if you stop suffocating me.” Kise said, although his sound was a bit muffled due to her squeezing him to death.

“Oh right, sorry!” Awesome Singularity shrieked and recoiled. “Is everything alright now?”

“Yeah, I guess.” The blond mumbled with uncertainty, propping himself up onto his elbows.

“You guess? It seems like something’s bothering you.”

Kise paused and looked her in the eyes. “I just figured out something, and I don’t know what to do.”

Awesome Singularity sat back and folded her arms. She looked to the floor and said, “So have we.” She started. “You’re Mitsuhide and the quest might be wrong.”

“Mitsuhide doesn’t exist.” Kise quickly said. He didn’t want to tell her who his character was just yet, but he’s watched many anime and movies in which hiding something like this for too long is _always_ the worst decision to make.

“Eh? So who ―?”

“I haven’t gotten the full details but when I went on the quest for the Katana I found out that I’m Mitsuhide.”

“So you knew and didn’t tell me?!”

“I wasn’t my fault! I planned to and then I had get the reward and then I started hearing voices in my head and then I went to Archives to see what the hell was happening!” he defended himself. One thing Kise learnt, being on the opposite side to a woman’s rage is not good.

“Oh. I understand.”

“Good.” He smiled in relief. “But something happened while I was on that concrete slab and I was moved somewhere I’ve never seen before. I was reverted to a six year old, and met this guy named Amaris and a woman named Olivia. They were ―” he cut himself off when he caught the look of mortification on Awesome Singularity’s face. “What?”

“Naoki-kun and Seiya-kun managed to get the Lore. Not all of it because the latter part, where Dantalion supposedly fought Mitsuhide, pieces of it were missing.”

“And…?”

“Amaris is the Emperor of Le Monde, not Dantalion. The latter was only temporary because he was dying in a war and Amaris gave his life to save his. But Aziza took three years to restore Amaris. _Plus_ , Amaris is the one who fought Mitsuhide, Dantalion only undid a seal that we’ve yet to find out what the hell it did.”

“But if Amaris fought Mitsuhide, who did the Cleric seal in his Arcana then?”

“Amaris. Not Dantalion who we were led to believe. He was sealed beneath the ground in some spherical thing.”

“Oh.” Kise could only manage. Absorbing everything that Awesome Singularity told him, and from what he had already known, Kise came to — _what seemed to be a plausible deduction_ —a conclusion that this was all a part of the game.

“What’s happening is going according to script.”

“Huh?”

“Have you ever watched anything be it anime, TV series or movies or even read anything where in the beginning the characters were told one thing, and thought that it was the truth but later on, that “truth” was nothing but lies because someone changed the real thing prior?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I would believe it’s the same thing happening here. We’re being told one thing, but the truth is something totally different.”

“But who could have changed it? And why?”

Kise shrugged. “That’s not our job.” He then leaned over closer to her, “So tell me what Gold and Haru divulged while I was gone.”

Awesome Singularity sighed. “I’ll just summarize. It was one hell of a tale.”  

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
